Beautiful Soul
by Uptown Otaku
Summary: A young girl comes to Azumano from overseas to escape her life for a while but gets caught in the middle of a world that's even less normal than the one she tried to leave behind. Protecting her own future may prove difficult when she discovers secrets she never wanted to know. DaiRiku, SatoRisa, and ?xOC. Rated T for romantic safety/flexibility. Contains some spoilers!
1. On Your Own

***Disclaimer:** _D N Angel _ is property of Yukiru Sugisaki. All original characters and concepts belong to me.

**IMPORTANT NOTE: **This fanfic takes place in a slightly altered storyline in which Daisuke has told the Harada twins of his and Dark's shared identity, but Satoshi's secret is still safe from all but the Niwa family. I will probably leave the story this way, at least until I decide to write a prologue in which Daisuke actually divulges this. Until then, enjoy!

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE: On Your Own**

She swallowed hard. She had waited for this moment for weeks, maybe even months; she had lost track of the time. She paused, glancing apprehensively between her mother and father sitting across from her. They looked slightly nervous, but not nearly as nervous as _she_ felt. She'd tried this so many times before that the conversation itself seemed old, but this time it would be different… she hoped. She took one last deep breath.

"I want to go to Japan."

She told her parents her wish, in English, over dinner. They were both unsurprised; she had mentioned it numerous times before but had never been able to go in the past because something always came up. But now that there was nothing in her way, she didn't think there was any chance they'd refuse.

Her mother spoke first. "Shuuko, honey," she said in her now-let's-be-reasonable voice, switching to Japanese in mid-sentence, "I know you've been thinking about this a lot, but are you sure you've thought it through _enough?"_

Shuuko bit her lip. _They can't say no,_ she told herself again and again. _I've waited forever for this._ "Mom, please," she begged, leaning forward in her chair. The ends of her hair almost fell into her soup. "I want to go so badly. I've been studying for years and I finally feel ready."

"We're both really proud of all the hard work you've put into this, Sasha" her father said in English, trying to keep up, "but it's never easy going to another country no matter how much you've studied."

"I _have_ to go," Shuuko said, her voice getting higher. She was starting to panic. "I don't belong here, Dad. I can't fit in. I need to go somewhere else, somewhere where nobody knows me."

Her parents exchanged significant looks. _Uh oh._ Dread settled in her stomach. "Sweetheart, you can't just run off to another country just because no one here'll go out with you," her father teased.

"Todd!" her mother scolded.

"That's not why I want to go!" Shuuko retorted. "_No one_ here likes me, not just the boys. I've never fit into the trendy American crowd, and I don't want to. Mom," she pleaded, switching to Japanese. "I need a break. I think I'd like it in Japan."

Her father's familiar devious smile spread across his face that always signaled a witty remark coming. "You know, if you like it too much there, you might never want to come back home, and if you fall madly in love with some samurai over there, that's not going to be a good enough excuse for your mother and I."

Shuuko scowled. "Puh-lease," she sighed. "That's not going to happen. Samurai aren't around anymore."

"They are in my little girl's fantasies," her father grinned.

"Todd, stop making fun of her," her mother scolded again. Her father pretended to look guilty.

"Nikki–"

"Hush." Her mother turned back to her daughter. "Shuuko," she said in a resigned sort of voice, "I know how much this means to you. I'm just worried about letting you go all alone. You're still young."

"Please!" Shuuko finally snapped, her composure falling apart. "I'll call you every day if you want me to! Pick the hotel, pick the school, I don't care! Just _please_ let me go!"

A little stunned at her sudden outburst, her mother and father exchanged another look. "Let me talk to your father about it," her mother said gently, but firmly. "We need some time to think it over."

Shuuko's shoulders slumped, but she knew she had done all she could. "Okay," she said reluctantly. "Thank you."

After dinner up in her room, Shuuko flopped on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Would they really let her go? Was she just wasting her time? She sighed and rolled onto her stomach, burying her face in her pillow. _Maybe I won't ever get there,_ she thought sadly. She sat up slowly and walked to her window that overlooked the quiet neighborhood street they lived on. _I don't belong here._

She didn't use to think like this; for years, she had been able to cope with being the outsider, the girl who sat alone at lunch at school, the one who everyone thought was stuck up only because she was too shy to smile. Now, however, she thought of this several times a day._ I have to get out of here._

She turned around to survey the bedroom that had been hers for fourteen years. To anyone, one look around the room could tell you one of the most important things about her: she loved to read. She had several bookcases, all of which were crammed with books. Her favorites were romance novels, but she read a lot of fantasy, too, as long as there was romance in them somewhere. Her parents only let her read them because they knew it was the only thing that seemed to keep her happy.

Unable to think of anything else to do, Shuuko slipped into her bathroom to shower before bed. By taking a good look in her bathroom, there was another thing you could tell about her: she loved the smell of lavender. Because she was a strong believer in lavender's calming and relaxing effects, all her soaps and shampoos were scented with it. She took a long hot shower, lathering herself with light purple suds, and got out with a towel wrapped around her. Before putting on her nightgown, she paused to look at herself in the mirror.

She saw her large, clear blue eyes staring back from her reflection. Even though her hair was soaked, it still stubbornly retained its constant, natural wave that hung down slightly past her shoulders. And although her hair was darkened slightly from the water, it was still easy to tell how light her blonde hair was when it was dry, so pale it was almost white. Her skin was hardly any darker; she never spent much time out in the sun, and when she did, she never forgot her sunscreen. She was tall because of her American heritage, standing straight at 5'8", and slender.

There was no denying that she was pretty—beautiful, some might argue—except that Shuuko never thought so. She never thought much about herself, especially when it came to looks. She was modest to a fault; she didn't like admitting to any of her good qualities for fear of sounding vain, and consequently her self-esteem left much to be desired.

Once she was redressed, she stepped back out into her bedroom just in time to hear a soft knock on the door. She opened it to see her mother standing on the landing. "Oh, hi Mom," Shuuko greeted in Japanese, her voice sounding flat and monotone in her depression.

"Shuuko," her mother said with the air of someone about to admit something unpleasant, "I've spoken to your father about what we talked about at dinner."

Shuuko's heart skipped a beat. This was her last hope. "And?" she breathed.

"We think it might be good for you to get out on your own for a little while," her mother said, managing a small smile. "I know you've been unhappy here and I hate to see you so upset."

"You'll let me go?" Shuuko whispered. Now that she was hearing it, it seemed too good to be true.

"Only because we know how much it means to you," her mother said in an attempt to sound stern. "We're going to look for a house to rent for you once we find a school you can go to while you're there. And you have to call us often," she added, staring her daughter down to let her know that she meant business. "We'll send you money for food and the rent."

"Oh, thank you!" Shuuko squealed, lunging at her mother to give her a bear hug. "I'll never forget this! Thank you so, so much!"

Her mother nodded in a tired, same-old-same-old kind of way. "You'll have to give us time to research some schools, though, so you won't be leaving right away."

Shuuko was positively jumping up and down now. "I'll help! If there's anything I can do–"

"–We'll let you know," her mother put in. "Now go to bed. You still have your normal school to go to tomorrow morning." The mother and daughter hugged each other and then broke apart. "Sweet dreams," her mother smiled.

"You, too, Mom," Shuuko replied. "Goodnight."

* * *

That had been almost a week ago.

Shuuko sat down on the soft bed and stared out the window, remembering the happiest moment of her life. She could still hardly believe it had happened; being able to come here to Japan had always been her dream. In truth, she was still terribly nervous, even though she had studied for this for what felt like forever. She supposed it was a good sign that she had survived her way through the airport and had been able to tell the taxi driver the address of where she wanted to go without being misunderstood. _So far, so good,_ she thought.

She looked around the room. The house her parents had found her was nicer than she could ever have hoped for. It was two stories, complete with a living room, family room, kitchen, two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a small laundry room, and a balcony off the bedroom she had chosen for her own that was through a set of French doors. She knew her parents had only chosen this house because it was the only one within walking distance to the school they had picked. It was hardly short of her dream home, except for the lack of a private forest and glade in the back, but she could live with that. She had officially moved in last night, and now that she had had time to unpack her things, she felt fairly comfortable in the new surroundings. She had given her parents all the way back in America a call to let them know she had arrived safely, and since then she had had her time to herself.

She reached over to her bedside table and picked up the small, stapled stack of paper her parents had made her about her new but temporary school. Azumano Middle School was inked at the top, followed by the address and other essential info for her to get the gist. Over the phone, mother had given her a quick scoop of how it was going to work.

"I've called the school for you already," her mother had told her, "and they've sent you a school uniform to your house that should get there sometime tomorrow. You'll have to take the railcar there, but it shouldn't be too long of a trip. I wrote down directions for you on the paper I gave you before you left, okay?"

Shuuko flipped the paper over and reread the directions for the seventh time. She wanted to make sure she had it right, for she had an awful habit of getting lost. _I can't believe I'll be going to a new school tomorrow!_ she thought, another little wave of panic washing over her. She tried to comfort herself by thinking that there was no way she could have prepared better; she had done all she could.

She went downstairs and into the kitchen to fix herself a cup of tea. _I'm going to be drinking a lot of this while I'm here, so I'd better start getting used to it._ Earlier that morning she had gone out briefly to pick up some essential groceries to last her until her parents' first check came in the mail. She couldn't help but worry about one thing, though: of all the kinds of food she had to hate, fish was at the top. She _hated_ fish in all of its shapes and sizes. She knew the Japanese ate a lot of fish, so would she be able to get by? _I guess I'll be eating a lot of noodles._

For most of the remainder of the day, Shuuko hustled around the house making sure everything was in its proper place for the hundredth time. What she was really waiting for was the school uniform to come. _I hope it's cute,_ she couldn't help but think.

Thankfully, though, she didn't have to wait forever. Later, in the evening, her doorbell rang and Shuuko sprang to answer it, coming face to face with a delivery man.

"Delivery for Shuuko Tanabe," he said in a voice that indicated he did this way too many times a day.

"That's me," she said carefully. She took the box from him. "Thank you."

He gave her a small bow and hurried back down her walkway to his truck, which he drove off around the corner. Shuuko smiled to herself, glad her mother had registered her in the school as Shuuko, not Sasha, and had used her maiden name instead of their English surname. She preferred it this way, and it was easier on everyone to pronounce. She closed the front door and sat down at the kitchen table to tear the tape off the box, which proved to need scissors. Once she had battled her way through to the cardboard, she opened the flaps and held up the uniform.

To Shuuko, it was absolutely adorable. The maroon pleated skirt, the white shirt with tails, and the matching maroon vest to go over it was just the kind of thing she'd like to wear to school every day. She picked it out of the box and tore up the stairs to her bathroom to hold it up to herself. It _looked_ like it would fit, but there was only one way to know for sure. Without a second thought, she stripped down and put on the uniform, holding her breath.

When she looked in the mirror, she let out a sigh of relief. Her only thought was that it fit all right, not that she looked good in it. She'd never admit something like that; it wasn't like she was _pretty._ She was a little amazed that they had managed to come up with a size that fit properly, because she knew she had to be taller than most girls who lived here. The skirt _was_ a little shorter than she was used to, but she'd just have to learn to cope.

Satisfied, she changed carefully out of the uniform and hung it up in her closet. Now the only challenge left was facing a whole new school the next morning. _I hope I don't make a complete fool of myself!_ In an effort to distract herself, she hurried downstairs to clean up the mess she had made on the kitchen table from opening the box in such a rush and make dinner.

She ate some hot soup, had a glass of milk, and then took a shower. She hadn't forgotten to bring all her lavender soaps with her. Once she was nice and clean, she dressed in her nightgown and got into the unfamiliar bed. It was soft, but it still wasn't quite like her bed at home, which was even squishier. _I'll get used to it._

She reached to the digital clock beside her bed and set the alarm; she didn't want to be late for tomorrow.

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**That's it for Chapter One! Now you can tell me what you think so far! Never hesitate to review my stories to offer critiques, compliments, or comments of any kind. I always love to hear from you and feedback always motivates me to continue writing, so if you want a story to continue, don't be afraid to speak up!**


	2. Phantom Thief?

**CHAPTER TWO: Phantom Thief?**

When Shuuko first woke up to the blaring of the alarm, she thought dreadfully of the day of school ahead of her where all the girls would sneer and steer clear while the boys wouldn't give her a second glance. Nobody would notice her, she'd eat alone at lunch, and everything would be the same as it had been for all her life.

But then she remembered she wasn't in that country anymore. This was Japan.

She sat bolt upright and slapped the alarm off. A new school, new people, and a new life—it was nerve-racking. She kicked the covers off and dashed to her closet to take her new school uniform off its hanger. She'd finally get to wear the adorable thing, and in front of other people who'd all be wearing the same thing; what a strange thought! She got dressed in it and ran a comb through her hair. For once, she was thankful she hardly ever had really bad hair days.

Running down the stairs and trying to pull socks on at the same time, she ran into the kitchen to hurriedly make herself some toast. She swallowed it all in a few bites, choking a little, and bounded back up the stairs to brush her teeth with some minty toothpaste. Then she ran frantically around her room, gathering all the notebooks and school supplies she had brought with her, grabbing the paper with the directions for the train in the meantime. Once she was sure she had everything, she glanced at the clock.

She was half an hour early. _Great, all that worrying and I have time to kill!_ Shuuko thought about loitering around the house, but decided not to. It would be better to just get to the school early than have to rush all over again. So she went back downstairs, more slowly now that she knew she had the time, pulled on her shoes, and stepped outside.

It was a lovely day, fairly warm and sunny with only a few white clouds in sight. Shuuko loved the sky, day and night; she liked to imagine what it must be like to fly, to be able to soar as high as you wanted and see the world beneath you. She liked to think it was a liberating feeling, to be so high that no one could touch you. _Like an escape,_ she thought wistfully. _Kind of like how I came here to escape._

She started walking, carefully following the directions her mother had written for her. _It would be horrible if I got lost on my first day! _For many minutes, she walked in silence, testing herself as she passed people talking on the street, seeing if she could understand what they were saying. When she still had no trouble by the time she reached the rail station, her confidence was higher. She had a few minutes to wait while she watched for her railcar to come, but once it did, she was thankful to not have to hurry. She got on and stood in the back, staying out of everybody's way.

As she got nearer and nearer to Grande Station, where she would be disembarking, she started seeing people getting on that were wearing the same uniform, the boys wearing pants, of course. She thought about trying to talk to some of them, but no sound came out; she was much too nervous. Many of the girls chatted with each other animatedly during their ride, but Shuuko wasn't listening; she could feel her panic coming back again.

She jumped when the train came to a stop and the voice over the speaker said, "We have arrived at Grande Station. Please watch the gap between the car and the platform as you disembark."

Because she never felt right trying to get to places first before other people, Shuuko just waited for everyone else to get off before she did. Once she was back out in the open air, she took to following the backs of the familiar uniform in order to get to where she was going. As she began mingling with the crowd a little more, she started to hear some students whispering.

"Who's that?"

"Never seen her before…"

"Must be new."

"Wow, she's so tall!"

Shuuko tried to tune it out. _I hope this doesn't turn out as bad as the school I came here to get away from._

It wasn't long before she saw Azumano Middle School up ahead. It was a nice-looking place, but she knew better than to judge it based on the outside. It was who was in it that counted. Starting to fear getting lost again, she followed a girl who looked about her age who had her hair in two long braids. She made her way inside and found herself immediately lost amidst the hall of students. She backed into a corner, trying to keep from being jostled.

"Um, excuse me," someone said from behind her. "Is something wrong?"

Shuuko almost screamed from being startled. She whipped around to see a teenage boy who had walked up to her unnoticed. He had wild, untamed red hair and warm eyes that looked almost red. He looked pleasant, and perhaps shy from the way he was smiling at her.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. _No, I can't get nervous now!_ "Uh, um," she stammered. "I-I'm looking for, um, C-Class 2-B. I don't really know where to go."

The boy's face brightened. "Oh, Class 2-B is where I'm going, too. If you want, I can show you where it is," he offered politely, blushing just a little out of nerves.

Shuuko was fighting the urge to run away. She was so embarrassed! _I'm making a fool of myself in front of a nice boy who's just offered to save my life!_ She tried thanking him, but just choked on the words, so she just nodded instead.

The redhead smiled. "Okay, follow me." He began leading her down the hall, once in a while returning a hello from a person he passed. "I'm Daisuke Niwa, by the way," he said. "What's your name?"

"Oh, um," she said brilliantly. "Y-You can call me S-Shuuko."

Daisuke beamed at her in a way that would make most girls swoon. "Nice to meet you," he said shyly. "Did you just move here?" he asked conversationally.

"Oh, no," Shuuko said quickly. "I'm just here for a little while."

"Oh, I see," Daisuke replied, looking a little taken aback. "Here's the classroom," he piped up, stopping in front of the door. "The teacher will be here soon, I think, and she'll want to introduce you to the rest of the class. See you inside," he said cheerfully, sliding the door open and disappearing inside.

_Well, he sure was nice,_ Shuuko thought. _Cute, too._ She stood next to the door, watching people pass by and glance at her wide-eyed, shuffling hurriedly past when they saw she was taller than most of them. It wasn't long before a young woman in round glasses and short black hair came up to the classroom and spotted Shuuko standing there.

"Ah, you must be Shuuko!" she said cheerily. "I'm the teacher of Class 2-B. I'll let you introduce yourself to the students."

"Oh, no, that's not–!" Shuuko tried to speak up, but the teacher had already opened the door.

"Good morning, class!" the teacher greeted the room at large. "We have a new student today who will be staying with us for a while. Come on in," she said over her shoulder to Shuuko.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Shuuko shuffled in uncomfortably into the classroom. She was met with a whole room full of eyes staring at her, and she had the urge to run and hide again. _I'm no good in front of crowds!_

The teacher guided her to stand next to the desk. "Why don't you introduce yourself?" she said pleasantly to Shuuko.

Shuuko felt her face heating up. "Um," she blubbered. "M-My name is, well, you can c-call me Shuuko."

When she wouldn't say anything else, the teacher supplied the rest. "Shuuko here has come all the way from America to spend some time here in this country, so let's all try to help her adjust, okay?" There was a resounding _"Yes, ma'am,"_ around the room.

"Good. I've had an empty desk placed at the back for you Shuuko. I hope you don't mind, it's the only place we have room."

"No, that's totally fine!" Shuuko said hurriedly. _I prefer being back there, actually._ The teacher reached into her desk and took out a small stack of books.

"Your mother had me get these for you," she said, handing them to Shuuko. "They're yours now."

"Thank you," Shuuko said shyly. She turned and walked as quickly as she thought she could get away with to her desk at the back, glancing at the faces around her as she went. There was about an even number of boys and girls in the room. She saw Daisuke, who smiled at her from his seat at the front, the girl with the braids she had followed earlier watching her curiously, and many others.

She sat down and glanced at the seat closest to her, where she briefly met the eyes of the tall boy who was sitting there. He had blue hair that fell slightly in his eyes and large glasses. His quiet and reserved expression made him seem almost intimidating, and he gave off a strong, aloof sort of vibe. Even so, though, he was _very _good-looking. He had been reading a small notebook in one hand but had glanced up when she sat down. But as soon as she met his gaze, he looked back down at the notebook as if he had barely noticed her. _That was weird,_ she thought.

"No fair!" the girl with the braids whispered to another girl near her. "She gets to sit close to Satoshi!"

_I guess I'm not the only one who thinks he's a catch,_ Shuuko thought, smiling slightly. She couldn't daydream forever, though, for classes soon had to start. At first she was caught off guard at having to learn things in a language that was not her first, but she adjusted fairly quickly and it turned out to not be so bad. Time seemed to pass by quickly, and soon it was time for lunch. The teacher announced that since the weather was nice, they could all have lunch out on the lawn.

Shuuko followed the crowd, keeping at the back. Once they were all outside, everyone started congregating with their friends and claiming benches or shady spots underneath the trees. _I guess this is my alone time,_ Shuuko thought. She stood awkwardly in the middle of the lawn, searching for a nice secluded spot.

She looked up when a very large group of people began approaching her all at once. Most of them were girls, but there was one boy among them, and he got there first.

"Yo!" the boy said loudly. "Nice to have someone new to break up the monotony. It was starting to get boring around here!" He had dark beady eyes and short, unkempt dark brown hair. He was wearing an armband on his upper arm that read "press" on it. "Takeshi Saehara, journalist, photographer, and columnist for the school newspaper at your service."

Shuuko was about to open her mouth when the three girls reached them.

"I'm Ritsuko Fukuda," the girl with the brown braids spoke up.

"Hi, I'm Miyuki Sawamura," a girl with short red hair said.

"And I'm Mari Ishii," said another girl with black hair and almond-shaped eyes.

"Um, nice to meet you," Shuuko said quietly. "You can call me Shuuko."

"You can sit with us if you like," Mari offered. "It'd be cool to get to know another girl."

"You already have too many friends to keep track of," Takeshi put in. "Anyway, Shuuko, I know pretty much everything that goes on here–"

"'Cause he's nosy," Miyuki whispered. The other girls giggled.

"–so I can probably answer any questions you might have," Takeshi continued, puffing up his chest impressively. "I know all the students, too, so I can tell you who everybody is."

"That's nice of you," Shuuko mumbled shyly.

"So anyway," Takeshi rambled, "That's Daisuke over there." He pointed towards a bench a little ways away underneath a tree, where he was sitting. "He's in the art club."

"I met him earlier," Shuuko said.

"Oh really? Cool," Takeshi babbled absentmindedly, much too absorbed in being helpful to really be listening. "You know all these girls now, so there's no need to introduce them," he continued, nodding at Ritsuko, Mari, and Miyuki. "Those are the Harada twins over there, Riku and Risa," he pointed at two very similar girls eating next to each other on the grass. "Risa's the one with the long hair, and Riku's on the lacrosse team. That's Masahiro Sekimoto, the blonde kid—good buddy of mine. And that's Yuuji Nishimura, the little black-haired guy over there. He's always pretty high-strung, though, so I don't think you two would get along real well."

"Um," Shuuko piped up timidly. "Where's the boy with the glasses? I don't see him anywhere."

Takeshi let out a very dramatic sigh. "Oh, you must be talking about Satoshi Hiwatari. Figures," he grumbled. "_All_ the girls think he's hot stuff. As for where he is, though," he continued, looking puzzled, "I have no idea. He disappears during lunch a lot, but he'll be back when class resumes. He always does."

Shuuko just nodded. She already felt pretty curious about this Satoshi. He seemed… What was the word? Intriguing?

"I think you lost her, Takeshi," Ritsuko yawned, glancing at Shuuko's faraway expression. "Why don't you go bribe Masahiro with something while we girls have a nice lunch together?"

Takeshi scowled and didn't say anything else, but he continued to hover over them as the three girls sat down by Shuuko on the lawn. "So Shuuko," Mari said conversationally, "the teacher says you came all the way here from America. Why did you move?"

"Oh, I didn't," Shuuko said uncomfortably. "I'm just here for a little while, I think. My parents are still back in the United States. I… I needed a break."

"If I didn't know better, I never would have guessed you weren't from around here," Miyuki piped up. "You're Japanese is so fluent!"

Shuuko blushed with embarrassment. "Well, I was brought up at home learning both English and Japanese, so it wasn't as hard as it sounds. My mom's Japanese, you see," she added, "and my dad's American."

"So _that's_ why you're so tall!" Ritsuko said. Suddenly, her eyes went wide. "Wait a sec. If you've never been here before…"

Mari and Miyuki got the same expression. "Then that means you don't know…" Miyuki whispered.

Shuuko blinked. "What're you talking about?"

They all started talking at once.

"You don't know about Dark!"

"You've never heard of the Legendary Phantom Thief!"

"Oh, Shuuko, you have no idea what you've missed!"

Her head started spinning. "Wait, wait, slow down! Dark? Phantom Thief? What are you talking about?"

"Girls, girls, you're scaring her," Takeshi suddenly said, appearing by them again out of nowhere. They all jumped. "She has no idea what a phantom thief even _is._ Never fear, though: _I'll_ explain everything.

"Around here," he began, getting a well-practiced reporter's tone in his voice, "there's a legend that's been around for centuries about a certain infamous thief called Phantom Dark. He's been around for just as long, but a while ago, he disappeared for forty years."

"Forty years?" Shuuko echoed quietly, her attention hooked.

Takeshi nodded importantly. "But relatively recently, he reappeared after his absence and has started stealing again, but Dark's not just your everyday petty burglar. He only goes after old and extremely valuable artworks in museums. But that's not all," he continued dramatically.

"Tell her the coolest part!" Miyuki squeaked excitedly.

"I'm getting to that!" Takeshi grumbled. He turned back to Shuuko. "He's so good at what he does that he leaves warning letters to the police telling them exactly when he's coming and what he's stealing so they can set up their best defense, but it doesn't matter. He's never been caught."

"Never?"

"Never ever. The most mysterious thing about him, though," he said, lowering his voice, "is that Dark always appears flying in the sky on black wings."

The three girls started squealing, but Shuuko said nothing; she was speechless. _That's impossible!_ she thought. _A man with wings? There's no way!_

Takeshi seemed impressed with himself. "Pretty neat, eh?"

Shuuko just shook her head. "How can that be true? No human can really fly."

The girls just kept swooning; Takeshi smirked. "Ah, doubtful, I see? I'll show you proof then, acquired by yours truly." He reached into his school bag and pulled out a small envelope. He opened it, carefully extracted its contents, and fanned them out like cards to show them to Shuuko.

They were photographs, all of them depicting the unmistakable figure of a young man with enormous black wings. Shuuko felt her breath catch in her throat as she stared at them. It was impossible, yet the evidence was right in front of her.

"I go to the museums Dark steals from when I hear about the warning letters," Takeshi explained. "They're shown on the news, but I get the info from my dad, who's a detective for the police. Dark's shown live on TV, but I prefer being there in person."

"You can actually see him?" Shuuko breathed. Takeshi seemed to inflate a little more.

"Absolutely. Tons of girls go there just to catch a glimpse, so it's hard to find a good spot, but they all seem to think it's worth it." He rolled his eyes to himself. "Everybody thinks he's such a dreamboat."

"He _is!_" Ritsuko giggled.

"He's _sooo_ gorgeous," Mari sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, we get the picture!" Takeshi scoffed. "Anyway, just keep an eye on the news channels and you'll hear about it. I also let people know when I get tip-offs from my dad, since I'm such a nice guy."

"Yeah, so you can trade photos for notes!" Miyuki laughed.

Takeshi ignored them. "Well, I'm feeling generous, so I'll let you have one of these." He took one of the photos and handed it to Shuuko. "That's a clip from his first appearance after not showing for forty years. I recorded it and froze the image, so I can make as many copies as I want. Enjoy," he winked, running off to go talk to Masahiro about something.

"Wow, you're so lucky!" Mari pouted. "Takeshi hardly ever gives out photos of Dark for free. We always have to let him copy homework or do his cleaning duty."

Shuuko nodded, but wasn't really listening. She was looking down in a daze at the picture in her hand: it was an incredible close-up of Dark's face. She was stunned at how young he looked; he couldn't be any older than 17. Long strands of deep violet hair fell around his smooth face while he looked down confidently at something below him with eyes the color of red wine.

_I've never seen anyone so exotic in my life,_ Shuuko thought in awe.

She could hear the girls giggling at her. "Ah, I think Dark's stolen another heart!" Ritsuko sighed dreamily.

"Totally. I _definitely_ know that look," Miyuki agreed.

"Well yeah, you look like that every day!" Mari giggled.

Shuuko snapped out of her reverie and blushed scarlet. "No, no, it's not like that at all! I've just never heard of such a thing before!"

"Sure, sure," Mari said, winking. "We all know how you feel, Shuuko, but I don't think any of us are good enough for him."

"Speak for yourself!" Ritsuko joked.

The three of them laughed some more while Shuuko slipped the photo in a safe place in her bag where it wouldn't get crushed. Her brain felt strangely numb; it was the most unbelievable thing she had ever heard, but she was enthralled by it. She secretly made a note to herself to check the news when she got home.

Realizing she hadn't eaten a bite of her lunch, she hurriedly crammed most of it down before the bell rang, signaling that classes would resume. She followed everyone else inside, observing the interactions between students. Ahead of her, she saw Daisuke talking cheerfully with one of the Harada twins—_Riku, I think. She's the one with shorter hair, right?_—while they walked with each other towards the classroom. When she entered, Satoshi was already at his desk. _Just like Takeshi said._

Classes began once again, but Shuuko was completely distracted. _Phantom Thief Dark…_ Who exactly was he? What kind of person could he be, to be so young, stealing precious artworks, and be cocky enough to warn the police exactly when he'd show? She couldn't decide how she felt about it. _I almost feel like I'm missing something,_ she thought, twiddling her pencil. _Maybe it's more complicated than everyone thinks. But what could the circumstances possibly be? The fact remains that he's a criminal._ She shook herself, trying to push the winged thief from her mind, but without much success.

When school was finally out, she packed up her things in a trance. The incredibility of it all was slowly dawning on her again. _A man with wings!_ she thought for the hundredth time. _There's just no explanation!_ In truth, though, if she was honest with herself, she _wanted_ to believe it. She read about fantastic, superhuman things like this all the time in her fantasy-romance novels, so she would love any excuse to believe it could be true. But they _were_ just books.

She waved goodbye to Ritsuko, Mari, and Miyuki as she left the classroom. As she headed for the doors, she saw Daisuke talking with Riku again.

"Want to walk home with me?" he asked her timidly.

Riku smiled. "Sure."

_I wonder if they're going out,_ Shuuko thought. Daisuke spotted her and waved goodbye to her. She returned the wave shyly and hurried away, giving the two their space. There was one thing she was a strong believer in, and that was the importance of uninterrupted relationships. She caught a train back home and rode it in silence, her mind spinning with everything that had happened.

When she finally got to her house, she let herself in and went straight to the family room where there was a television. She picked up the remote and slipped through the channels until she finally found the news, which she left on the screen while she went into the kitchen to boil some water for noodles. She wasn't a TV junkie at all; at home, she hardly ever watched anything, except for the occasional soap opera when she caught her mother watching one. Aside from that, though, she never touched the remote herself, especially not for boring news.

She was just about to pick up the pot lid to check the water when she caught the reporter's voice in the next room.

"…from the police stating that another warning letter from the notorious Phantom Dark…"

Dropping the lid with a loud _bang,_ Shuuko bolted to the television screen.

"…has been found, stating that at nine o'clock tonight at the Esviel Art Museum, he will steal 'Yearning Heart', a statuette donated to the museum a mere two days ago. As you can see, the police have already stationed themselves here at the scene to put their defenses into place before Dark arrives to commit his crime. Tune in tonight at nine for live coverage of Dark's appearance as he attempts yet again to thwart the police at their own game."

Shuuko's heart was pounding hard against her chest. She glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece: it was almost half past four. _I've got plenty of time,_ she thought excitedly. As she headed back into the kitchen, she paused. What was stopping her from going to the museum herself? _Common sense,_ she thought, answering her own question. She knew her parents would both disapprove, but then again, she might not have another opportunity. She didn't know how often the Phantom Thief stole things in the area. What if this was her only chance to glimpse him in person? _I can't let this go to waste,_ she told herself firmly. _It's not like I'll be anywhere near him. If it's true that he can really fly, he won't even see me in the middle of the crowd. I won't be in any danger._

Her mind made up, she turned the television off and ran into the kitchen to clean up the stove, for her water had boiled over. Once she had made herself some dinner and had eaten, she went upstairs to brush her teeth and change out of her uniform. If she was going to be out late, she'd need something a little warmer. She changed into a pair of long, nice jeans and a blue long-sleeved shirt. Then she went downstairs.

Now she needed to find out where the museum was, as she had no idea. She grabbed a phone book off the kitchen counter and flipped through the pages madly, searching for it. Finally, her finger stopped over the name, Esviel Art Museum. She grabbed a small page of note paper and scribbled down the address. _Now I just kill some time._

This proved to be nothing short of maddening. She loitered around her house, cleaning things here and there, moving things around, messing with things that didn't need to be messed with, until she couldn't take it any longer. She pulled on her running shoes, tied a light jacked around her hips, and let herself out into the brisk evening air.

She had plenty of time to find the museum, and she ended up need all the time to get herself out of being lost. When she finally turned onto the right street, she saw it up ahead. Big and beautiful, the Esviel Art Museum was a lovely sight to behold. She personally loved art, so she used to spend a lot of time at art exhibits on weekends.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out she was at the right place, because the whole front of the museum was blocked off by a crowd of people, ninety percent of which were young women, Shuuko noticed. Reporters already had their cameras set up, pointing up at the moon. _Takeshi wasn't kidding when he said it would be hard to find a spot._

She hated crowds with a passion, so she stayed on the outside where she wouldn't get trampled. She checked her watch: ten minutes until nine. She took a deep breath, tilted her head up to the sky, and waited.


	3. When Eyes Meet

**CHAPTER THREE: When Eyes Meet**

Daisuke Niwa gaped open-mouthed at his mother. He had just walked through the door to the smell of dinner and had been delivered what he considered to be very bad news. "You _what?_"

"I'm sorry, Dai, but I just couldn't resist," his mother, Emiko, said innocently to her son.

"There's no use complaining about it now, Daisuke," his grandfather, Daiki, said from the sofa where he was drinking tea. "It was sent off this morning."

"This _morning?_" Daisuke repeated incredulously. "Mom, please stop sending warning letters without telling me!"

Emiko just smiled cheerfully. "You were late for school already. I didn't have time to mention it."

_You could have found time, I bet,_ the redhead thought grumpily. "Fine. When do I have to go?"

His mother looked at the clock. "In an hour or so. You have time to eat a quick dinner. Oh, and I've put out Dark's outfit on your bed when you're ready to change."

"Of course," Daisuke muttered. Why was his mother always doing this to him? He hated stealing on school nights; it was exhausting, and he had a lot of homework to do, too!

"Dinner's getting cold!" the family maid called from the kitchen.

"Coming, Towa!" Daisuke answered, rushing to the table. He ate a rather rushed dinner, which didn't improve his mood, and ran up to his bedroom upstairs. _Why am I _always_ running?_ When he came through the doorway, he saw, sure enough, a black outfit on top of the covers of his bed.

"Kyuu!" Daisuke looked down to see his funny little rabbit, With, jumping up and down on his sofa.

"You excited, With?" Daisuke asked, stroking With's head. It was then that he noticed that Dark hadn't said anything. A quick mental check told him he was sleeping. He sighed to himself; he hated waking Dark up because it always made the phantom thief grumpy.

_"Hey, Dark?"_ Daisuke said in his mind.

Dark stirred. _"What is it, Daisuke? Can't you tell I'm sleepy?"_

_"Well, you missed the news downstairs. Mom sent another warning letter this morning and we kind of have to leave now."_

Dark snorted. _"Jeez. Why do you always wait until the last minute? What're we stealing this time?"_

_"Some statue called 'Yearning Heart' that was donated a couple days ago. You do_ _want to, don't you?"_

_"Of course I want to, idiot. I bet there'll be a huge crowd tonight!"_ Dark added self-assuredly. _"Now hurry and change into me. I don't want to be late for my big entrance!"_

Daisuke sighed; Dark was always like this on thieving nights. He changed into his mom's outfit, a black form-fitting bodysuit. All of the phantom thief's clothes were a little big on him, but he was used to it and didn't think about it as he closed his eyes, feeling the familiar sensation engulf him as his body changed into Dark's, growing in height and build. He felt a smile spread over Dark's handsome face.

"That's better," the young thief said, stretching widely. "Now you just sit back and let me do my stuff."

_"Yeah, sure,"_ Daisuke replied from the back of Dark's mind.

"Let's go, With!" Dark said with poise. With leapt up from the sofa and transformed, sprouting from between Dark's shoulder blades as his great black wings. Dark stepped out onto Daisuke's small balcony, spread his wings, and took flight, swerving in the direction of the art museum he knew so well. After what felt like no time at all, Dark spotted the searchlights in the distance, illuminating his destination.

"I hope the commander's there tonight," Dark mused. "It'll be way too easy if they're left to fend for themselves."

The phantom thief swooped down lower over the museum, deliberately letting a search light pass over him. Instantaneously, the crowd below started cheering. "Ahh, they love me," he sighed jokingly.

_"Can we focus, please?"_ Daisuke asked. _"I don't want this to take longer than it has to."_

_"Who's not focused?"_ Dark swerved behind the museum, surveying the mob of police cars around the building. "I hope they know how much they're kidding themselves," he said, shaking his head mockingly down at them from the shadows. "Guess they've had their chance."

He snapped his fingers and the searchlights went out. He heard the panicked officers down below running around trying to figure out what the problem was. _Idiots,_ Dark thought shamelessly. He hovered down in front of a window, pulled out one of his own feathers, and held it in front of the glass. The black feather glowed with a faint blue light and he heard soft _click_ as it unlocked. He pulled it open and slipped through, tucking his wings tightly against his back.

Now that he was inside, the sounds of the crowd below seemed faint and slightly muffled. "Now to find our 'Yearning Heart'," he whispered to himself. He slipped from the room he was in and dashed to the next corner without a sound, peering around it. He immediately saw what he was looking for.

On a small table inside a display case, a small marble statue, only about eight inches in height, glinted from behind its glass. Six guards were standing around the table, hiding it mostly from view. Dark smirked to himself. Was that the best they could do? It was almost insulting; to think they thought this pathetic security would be enough! "With," he whispered.

His wings disappeared to be replaced by the small white rabbit on his shoulder. "You know what to do," he told the rabbit.

With glowed brightly and formed into an identical copy of Dark himself. The Dark copy snuck into the next room and allowed the officers a brief glance of his movement before he dashed into the room beyond.

"I saw him!" an officer hollered. "After him!" The guards rushed into the far room to chase the fake Dark, leaving the real one free to take what he wanted.

"That was too simple," Dark snickered, trying to keep from laughing aloud. He went up to the display case and gazed down at the small figure of a kneeling girl with one hand in her lap and the other held over her heart in deep prayer. "Sorry, mademoiselle, but you're coming home with me tonight." He bent down and tapped the Access Code panel to life and entered in a series of numbers. The word "accepted" flashed briefly across the screen, and then he heard the glass case unlock.

Dark lifted it carefully from over the small statue and picked up the figure. He tucked it out of sight, replaced the glass lid over the table and relocked it just to make the police even more mad, and turned away. "Time to make my getaway!" He darted back through the museum to the window through which he had entered. "With, to me!"

His black wings sprouted once again and Dark took shot out into the night sky again, soaring high over the police, who had finally managed to get their searchlights back online. He allowed one to engulf him for a split second while he flashed a cocky grin.

* * *

Down on the ground, Detective Saehara was throwing another one of his hissy fits, making it fairly obvious where his son had inherited the habit. "What do you mean, 'you lost him'?" he howled into a handheld speaker. "How many times do you think I've heard that already? I won't take that for an answer, you hear? You're supposed to be trained for this! I want that guy in cuffs if it's the last thing I do!" He growled obscenities under his breath as he lowered the speaker, glaring up at the sky. _This Phantom Thief is more trouble than he's worth,_ he thought mutinously. He had just turned around to look for someone else to yell at when he was distracted.

"Detective!" an officer called, jogging into sight. "Sir, have you seen the commander?"

Saehara frowned. He didn't have time to keep track of that brat. "No, why? I didn't think he was coming to observe the field."

The officer frowned. He looked nervous. "Well sir, I didn't know either, but I saw him a few minutes ago."

The detective bristled; that commander had some nerve to just show up with no notice whatsoever. "Well, if you saw him just a few minutes ago, then where is he now?" he demanded, sticking a finger right up into the officer's face.

"Well, I, uh, he disappeared!" he spluttered helplessly.

"Humph! Probably went to stake out Dark's escape route or something…" Saehara snorted. "It doesn't matter!" he exploded at the poor officer. "I don't want to see you blink once while you keep both your eyes on the cameras! Go! _Now!"_

"Uh, yes sir!" the officer said hurriedly, saluting. He ran off back towards the truck that held the screens with the feeds from all the observation cameras.

The detective huffed and folded his arms, letting his eyes roam. There were officers everywhere, of course, but there was also the obnoxious squealing of the crowd that was barely being retrained behind the yellow ribbons. _One of these days,_ he thought bad-temperedly, _I'll figure out what that kid's thinks he's really doing here._

* * *

Shuuko was feeling sorely disappointed. She had heard the crowd erupt in excitement, but she had failed to see anything in time. _I probably won't ever get to see him,_ she thought mournfully. Feeling adequately discouraged, she shifted away from the crowd, glancing up hopefully once in a while at the sky but not really expecting to see anything, let alone any_one._

She drifted farther and farther away from the other people and officers, orbiting the museum at a greater distance. She wasn't really sure what she planned on doing by waiting around, but she wasn't really thinking clearly to begin with. Why had she come out here, anyway? It was probably a really stupid thing to do, she knew, and yet she still came. Why?

_I just wanted to see you… even if only just once._

* * *

Dark swirled past the reach of the searchlights, brimming with satisfaction. Another artwork stolen flawlessly by Phantom Dark! _It's too bad it was so pathetically easy,_ he thought listlessly. _I don't get enough exercise from total bores like this!_

_"Are you sure you're not getting a little too confident?"_ his tamer asked warily.

The young thief only laughed at this. _"There's no reason _not_ to get cocky,"_ he snickered. _"If the police would just try harder, maybe I'd have a little more incentive to humble myself."_

He felt Daisuke roll his eyes, unconvinced. He knew that the idea of him humbling himself about anything was hard to believe. Still smirking, he gave his black wings a strong flap, propelling himself through the night air a little faster.

Suddenly, the small sculpture in his hand seemed to pulse. Dark slowed and looked at it, his eyes wide with surprise. It grew slightly warmer and throbbed steadily…

Like a beating heart.

_"Dark? What's wrong?"_ Daisuke echoed in the young thief's mind.

But Dark didn't hear him; his tamer's voice sounded distant and distorted. The phantom thief felt something shift inside of him. Was it his own heart? He felt like a hand had reached inside his chest and closed around his heart, gently, but squeezing it and making it feel hot. He felt his breath catch in his throat, but it wasn't painful. It was almost familiar.

His eyes widened further as he felt invisible hands enclose the sides of his face, so light he could almost convince himself it was his imagination. His mind had frozen; no thoughts passed through it, only that something was calling him. He felt his own face move out of his control, tilting down towards the ground like someone was trying to make him see something. But there was nothing down there but trees surrounding the museum…

Except that there _was_ something.

Standing alone in the middle of the night was a single young girl. From up in the air, not much could be seen of her, yet Dark immediately couldn't take his eyes off her. There was only faint moonlight to light up the shadow of the tree she was standing in, but in Dark's mind she seemed to glow, like a single burning flame in pitch darkness.

_"Dark, what's wrong with you? Answer me!"_

Dark blinked, and then shook himself. What was he doing? He was just about to give Daisuke some excuse about spacing out when his eyes fell on the girl again, and he felt the words disappear right from his mouth. His body started to tingle like he was charged with energy.

Daisuke gave Dark a frustrated mental shake and he managed to speak. "Daisuke," he said, surprising himself by how faint his own voice sounded. "Do you know her?"

_"I dunno," _Daisuke said honestly. _"I can't see her that well from up here, but she _does_ look a little familiar. Wait,"_ he said suddenly. _"You're not thinking about going down there, are you?"_

Dark allowed himself a chuckle. Daisuke was always so jumpy when it came to him and girls. "Well if you ask me, she looks like she needs a bit of company," he said aloud.

Before Daisuke could protest, Dark tucked the sculpture absent-mindedly out of sight, folded his wings flatter against his back, and swooped down lower, but slowly. He wanted a closer look at her before he advanced on her, which was an unusual approach for the usually daring and straightforward thief. He hovered down lower until he reached a nearby tree, where he grasped a sturdy branch and peered down at the girl he couldn't help but be so mesmerized by.

_"Dark, I _do_ know her!" _Daisuke blurted. _"She joined our school this morning! I helped her find the classroom!"_

Dark raised an eyebrow. _"My, maybe I really do sleep a little too much lately. What's her— no, don't tell me," _he cut himself off, blocking out Daisuke's memory so as not to spoil it. _"I think I'd like to find out her name myself."_

But he still didn't speak to her. Instead, he crouched quietly in the treetop, watching her with a feeling he couldn't explain, not even to himself. She had a quiet, reserved aura about her, the way her wavy hair hid her face from view while her head was tilted down. In the moonlight, her hair looked almost white, and her skin was like porcelain.

_"Dark,"_ Daisuke moaned in exasperation. _"Can you keep your thoughts to yourself? You're creeping me out."_

Dark grimaced to himself; he hadn't meant to let Daisuke hear his thoughts like that. As he focused once again on the girl below him, he saw her slowly turn and start to walk away; he was losing his chance. His stomach seemed to plummet, making him feel dizzy. Was he actually feeling _nervous?_ He didn't get nervous in front of girls; it just didn't happen. Half in a desperate attempt to prove to himself that he had to be mistaken, he jumped at his last chance.

He leapt nimbly down from his hiding place and took a deep breath. "Hey."

She gasped and whipped around to find herself facing the phantom thief, leaning against a tree and looking at her with an expression she couldn't read. She had frozen stiff and was looking at him with a deer-in-the-headlights expression.

Dark shrugged himself off the three and took one step towards her. Her large eyes were the clearest blue he had ever seen. "Isn't it a bit late for you to be out here all alone?"

The girl wouldn't speak, or maybe she _couldn't_ speak. He saw her eyes flicker to his wings, and then back to his face. She looked afraid. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but no sound came out, so she closed it again.

Dark tried again, slightly taken aback by the lack of a reaction. "I was on my way out from the museum when I saw you down here. I thought I'd come down and say hello."

Finally getting her voice back, the girl swallowed hard. When she spoke, it was barely above a whisper. "W-Why would you want to say hello to _me?"_

Dark blinked. "Well, why not? You looked like you could use a little company." He almost took another step forward, but he stopped himself. This girl was different; he'd have to play his cards differently if he was going to make the right impression.

The girl shook her head violently. "N-No, it's not like that! I was j-just on my way home, that's all!"

Dark couldn't hold in a chuckle. She was shy, all right, but it somehow only made her cuter. "Did you come from over there?" Dark asked, tilting his head back over his shoulder towards his crowd of fans that was now dispersing.

She started to shake her head no, but turned it into an affirmative nod mid-shake. "I…" she began, her eyes drifting down to the ground, "I wanted…" She lost heart, though, and continued staring at the ground.

"You wanted to see me?" Dark finished for her.

She looked up at him, not with fear, but with something else; an expression that told him more than a world of words could. From that look, he knew he was right, but so much more. It meant the world to her to be able to see him so close, and he felt his chest heat up again. She managed a nod, confirming it.

Dark smiled. "Well, guess it was lucky I came down, then. I wouldn't want to disappoint a pretty girl by not showing."

Instead of looking flattered like he thought she would, she bit her lip and said with conviction, "I'm not pretty."

"Heh, I'll be the judge of that," he said playfully, finally letting himself take another step towards her. "What's your name?"

_Now_ she looked embarrassed. She opened her mouth but hesitated, like she was thinking about what to say. "Well…" she murmured. "My name is Sasha."

Dark felt Daisuke reel in surprise. _"No it's not,"_ he said in confusion. _"It's–"_

Dark shushed him and kept listening.

"But don't call me that," she said hurriedly, blushing a little pinker. "I… I prefer everyone to call me Shuuko."

Dark cocked his head a little to one shoulder, but smiled. "I'll call you whatever you like," he said in the low, velvety tone he saved just for girls. He stepped a little closer, narrowing the distance between them a little more. The first thing that went through his mind was how tall she was. Most girls Daisuke's age only came up to his collarbone at best, but the top of this girl's head reached his nose. He saw her tense, but she didn't back away. "I wouldn't want you to leave without a souvenir, so…"

He stretched out one of his wings and gave it a powerful flap, allowing a couple feathers to fall loose. He plucked one out of the air before it could touch the ground and held it out to Shuuko.

She looked more like he had just held out a diamond ring. She stared at it, and then stared at Dark. "For me?" she whispered, barely audible. "Are you sure?"

Dark nodded slowly, not breaking eye contact. "Absolutely. Think of it," he said, carefully reaching out and taking one of her hands, placing the tip of the feather in it, and closing her fingers around it gently, "as a token of my appreciation for having met you."

Shuuko looked like she might faint. She held the feather close to her heart and stared at Dark like she might cry with happiness. "I-I don't know what to say," she stammered. She finally found her voice again. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"My pleasure," Dark answered, letting his eyes smolder at her, turning on some more of his charm. "I should go, but…" He lifted a hand and gently cupped her chin to lift her face a little so he could look straight in her eyes. "I'll see you again soon, Shuuko."

Shuuko looked intently at Dark's face like she was searching for something. Dark felt the hand over his heart almost yank it straight out of his chest. "Soon?" she echoed softly.

Dark smiled. "Definitely." With that, he spread his wings and took flight, leaving Shuuko under the tree clutching his feather and, as Dark hoped, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world.

* * *

For several minutes, Dark flew towards Daisuke's house in silence, his mind contentedly blank. It was a long time before he remembered Daisuke at all. _"Hey, you in there, Daisuke?"_

_"…"_ Daisuke didn't answer, but Dark could tell something was bothering him.

Dark raised an eyebrow. _"What's up?"_

There was a silence in which he had the vague sense of preparing for an explosion. Finally, the ice broke and his tamer cut loose.

_"You didn't kiss her!" _he erupted in a tone of deepest bewilderment. _"I thought for sure you would! She had it coming that whole time and you never did!"_

Dark raised his other eyebrow. _I never thought I'd hear this,_ Dark thought with amusement. _"What, you _want_ me to kiss her? I could probably find her again if you want me to go back,"_ he teased.

_"No, that's not what I meant!"_ Daisuke spluttered. _"It's just weird, that's all. You _always_ kiss girls when you first meet them. It's a bad habit,"_ he added stubbornly, _"but it's your greeting, isn't it?"_

Dark thought about this for a few seconds before answering. _"She's different,"_ he finally said. _"If I had kissed her then, I'd have scared her away. I admit it's not something I'm used to,"_ he mused, half to himself, _"but she's going to require… a different approach." _He felt Daisuke squirm uncomfortably, but he just thought it was funny. _ "Don't worry about it,"_ he assured Daisuke. _"I know what I'm doing."_

_"That's not what I'm worried about,"_ Daisuke muttered nervously. Dark just sniggered.

"I hope she comes next time, too," the handsome thief said aloud.

While his tamer shifted uncomfortably, Dark thought to himself more privately. _Shuuko…_ The name meant nothing special to him by itself; it was when he thought of _her,_ the girl herself that he felt that strange sensation inside him. There was definitely something about her that was—what was the word? Different, intriguing, special… He couldn't quite put his finger on it. He felt strange feeling like he didn't understand her, and he wanted _very_ badly to understand.

The small statuette under his arm beat softly to the rhythm of his heart.

* * *

Shuuko let herself into her house. She pulled her shoes off and went upstairs slowly, watching the steps pass underneath her but not really seeing them clearly. When she reached her room, she went straight to her bed and collapsed on it, letting out a long breath that she had been holding. She squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds, willing it all not to have been a dream.

When she opened them again, she saw the black feather in her hand and felt a wave of such happiness that it was almost sickening. She felt dizzy as she opened the floodgates in her mind, allowing Phantom Dark to completely invade her thoughts. She thought back to that moment under the tree when the thief had lifted her chin and held her gaze with an intensity that burned.

_He was perfect,_ she though wistfully. She found it odd to be thinking like this, too. Just yesterday she never would have thought she'd think such an exotic person could be so undeniably attractive, and yet now she couldn't make her heart stop pounding. His black wings, the way his long hair fell around his face, his blinding violet eyes…

Shuuko sat up. Struck with a sudden strange thought, she reached to her bedside table and opened the drawer to look for the photograph Takeshi had so kindly given her earlier that day. She pulled it out from where it had been lying on top of the other odds and ends and turned it over to see its picture.

At a moment's glace, she realized what was wrong. In the picture, his eyes were red.

But just half an hour ago… they had been _violet._


	4. Two Halves Collide

**CHAPTER FOUR: Two Halves Collide**

The next morning, Daisuke was sitting at the kitchen table, trying to eat his toast without choking. His mother's arms were wrapped tightly around his neck as she fussed over him about the night before, and it was making it a little hard to eat.

"My little boy is such a wonderful thief!" she said gleefully. "Now I have another beautiful artwork to add to the growing collection! That's my baby!"

Daisuke sighed heavily, trying to wrestle her off him. "Mom, seriously, how is being a thief a good thing?" Emiko just continued to fawn over her son as he tried to drink his milk but almost ended up spilling it all over himself as his mother rocked him to and fro.

In his mind, Dark snorted. _"I'm the one who did the stealing, not you," _he huffed.

_"Trust me, I know that, and I'd rather Mom do this to you than me any day."_

_"You know," _Dark just snickered, _"if she doesn't let go of you soon, you're gonna be late."_

A quick glance at the clock told the redhead that Dark was right. "Mom, let go, I have to leave for school!"

"Oh, sorry sweetie," she crooned, kissing him on the cheek. "Have a good day at school and say hello to Riku for me!"

Daisuke's cheeks flushed as he grabbed his school bag, pulled on his shoes, and tore out the door. He was never able to understand why his mother couldn't help embarrassing him sometimes. _At least it's another nice day,_ he thought, brightening up as he looked at the clear blue sky.

As he hurried towards the rail station, though, he thought of something. _"Hey Dark, you don't usually wake up when I do in the mornings."_

He sensed Dark guarding his thoughts carefully. _"Just felt like a change of pace, I guess," _he replied vaguely.

Not sure whether or not he believed his other half or not, Daisuke spotted the train station and rushed towards it just as he heard the conductor announcing its departure.

"Wait, I'm here!" Daisuke hollered.

"Ah, Daisuke," the ticket vendor smiled as the young teen skidded to a halt in front of him. "Don't worry, you're just in time." Daisuke showed him his pass and jumped on the railcar before it pulled out.

Now that he didn't have to worry about being late, he thought more about Dark's unusual mood. Ever since last night, he hadn't been acting quite right. He seemed distracted and preoccupied, like he was thinking about something he didn't feel like sharing.

Dark spoke up, reading his mind easily. _"You worry too much—I'm just still perky from last night's adrenaline. Don't forget to say hi to Riku for me."_

Daisuke blushed again, his attention diverted again from his other half for the time being, and Dark sat back, trying to stay inconspicuous. In truth, he was awake for a reason, but it really was none of his tamer's business. When the train stopped at Grande Station, Daisuke hopped off and hurried towards Azumano Middle School, tripping over the steps once in his haste to beat the bell.

At the front gates, though, he saw that Satoshi was there, making his way to the classroom, as well. _That's strange,_ Daisuke though. _Satoshi always comes early before everyone else._ As he passed the quiet boy, Daisuke waved.

"Good morning, Satoshi," he said cheerfully. "This is awfully late for you."

Satoshi looked up at the redhead and gave him one of his barely-there-smiles that sometimes gave Daisuke the creeps. "I had some things I needed to get done this morning. After all," he said calmly, his smile widening just a little, "I had to make plans for tonight."

Daisuke blinked. He couldn't get over the feeling that he was missing an important detail. "I see," he said slowly. "Well, have fun, I guess!" After that, he sped up and hurried to the classroom, trying to beat Satoshi there to avoid any more awkward conversations. As he neared Class 2-B, he spotted Shuuko easily amongst the sea of slightly shorter heads in the hallway, and he felt Dark's attention focus on her intently.

"Good morning, Shuuko!" he called cheerfully. He didn't want to give Shuuko any reason to suspect something was wrong, because if she asked, he wouldn't have a good enough answer. "How are you?"

Shuuko jumped and turned to see the nice boy smiling at her and waving as he jogged up. "Oh, good morning," she said shyly. "I'm fine, thanks. I…"

But she stopped. She frowned slightly and her eyes looked intently into Daisuke's as if she had seen something strange. For a reason Daisuke couldn't explain, he didn't want to meet her gaze. Was he afraid? But before he could make up his mind, his eyes drifted up to meet hers without him wanting them to, and as their eyes locked, he felt an eerie, tingly feeling like there was warm energy coursing just underneath his flesh.

_"Dark, what's hap–?"_

She suddenly looked away just as quickly as she had started. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to stare like that. I just thought for a second… Never mind, it's nothing." She turned to the classroom door and disappeared into it, leaving Daisuke alone in the hallway.

Both Daisuke and Dark felt slightly shaken. _"Dark, what was that just now?"_

Dark hesitated a few seconds before answering. _"I dunno,"_ he said uncertainly, _"It's weird, but I doubt it's anything you need to worry about. She was probably just seeing things."_

For lack of knowing what else to do, Daisuke slid open the classroom door and went in after Shuuko, who was now sitting down at her desk and looking pensively out the window. Looking around, he saw Riku just setting her bag down at her desk and he went over to her; he needed someone to talk to besides Dark, who wasn't really taking anything he was saying seriously.

"Hey, good morning, Riku," he said, forcing a smile. He clenched his fists at his sides to stop them from shaking.

"Hi Daisuke… What's wrong with you?" she asked suddenly, getting up in his face. "Something's wrong. What is it?"

Daisuke privately wished she was a little less observant sometimes. "I… Nothing, I'm fine," he lied, trying to look the part, but Riku didn't fall for it; she hardly ever did.

"You _always_ say nothing's wrong," she grumbled, staring him down. She lowered her voice to a threatening hiss. "Is it Dark? Is that creep doing something?"

Daisuke tried hard not to laugh. Riku's persistence was truly adorable sometimes. "No, it's not him, exactly. It's… It's hard to explain," he said lamely, earning him a glare from his girlfriend. "Can I talk to you about it later? Somewhere quieter?" he added, lowering his voice.

Riku pouted, but she understood. "Okay, I guess. Can we have lunch together? We could talk then, right?"

Daisuke smiled, happy for an excuse to sit with her. "Sure, that sounds fine." He glanced over at Shuuko again where she was staring at the top of her desk in deep thought. He wondered what she was thinking about. _Did she get that strange feeling at that moment, too?_

* * *

When class began, Shuuko was too distracted to make full use of the lecture. She felt a little ridiculous, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something important that she didn't know. When she had met Daisuke's eyes, she could have sworn she had seen something flicker in them, like the shadow of something behind them. _His eyes… Why do they seem so familiar?_

She glanced randomly over at Satoshi and saw that he looked exhausted; she could almost swear that he was sleeping sitting up. His eyes were closed behind his glasses, his head lolled down on his own chest, and his shoulders were slightly slumped. _I guess somebody had a bad night._

As she continued to watch him, though, he suddenly jerked awake as if someone has shaken him. He shook his head sleepily a little and looked around like he expected to see someone standing near him, but when he saw no one was there, he pushed his glasses up his nose a little and seemed to doze off all over again.

_I wish I knew him better,_ Shuuko thought, _but I'd never be able to get up the courage to talk to him. _She sighed heavily to herself; she was always intimidated by boys, especially good-looking ones.

Eventually lunch came around and everyone headed outside to eat on the lawn. Ritsuko and Mari asked to eat with Shuuko again, saying Miyuki had gotten held up by Yuuji "again," and Shuuko agreed, thankful for friendly faces to talk to.

Little did Shuuko know, though, that Daisuke was feeling little more than a bit curious, and he had a pretty good feeling of what they Shuuko and the girls were going to talk about. Hoping he wasn't sinning too badly, he sat down with Riku a little ways away so he could hear them.

"So, Shuuko, did you see the news last night?" Ritsuko asked excitedly.

"You mean about the warning letter?" Shuuko asked.

"Of course!" Mari and Ritsuko said together. "You watched Dark, right?"

Daisuke saw Shuuko pause. He could see her doing some very quick thinking, but about what he couldn't be sure. _She couldn't have watched Dark on TV since she was there at the museum,_ he thought. _They're going to get so jealous when she tells them she met Dark._

But to Daisuke's utter astonishment, Shuuko said something unexpected. "Yes, I saw it."

_She lied!_ Daisuke thought in shock.

"Wasn't Dark just totally dreamy?" Mari sighed.

"As dreamy as always," Ritsuko added.

Shuuko showed a small smile. "Yes," she agreed softly. "He was everything you said he would be… and more."

"Oooh, how romantic!" Mari breathed.

"No words can describe his grace and elegance!" Ritsuko said dramatically. Both girls giggled madly.

Daisuke was still wondering what was wrong with Shuuko when a hand was waved in front of his face. "Hello, Daisuke? What's up with you?"

Daisuke yelped and turned to see Riku sitting next to him, and he felt guilty for having forgotten all about her. "Sorry," he apologized. "Shuuko's just acting weird."

"The new girl?" Riku asked, glancing at her over her boyfriend's shoulder. "She looks fine to me."

"No, it's what she just said," Daisuke said in confusion. "You see, she ran into Dark last night at the museum."

Riku narrowed her eyes. "Did Dark do something to her?" she asked violently.

Daisuke shook his head. "I don't think so. He actually didn't even kiss her."

Riku's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "What!" she said indignantly. "How come _she_ didn't have to kiss him when _I_ did?"

Dark snickered in Daisuke's mind. _"You were making too much noise, Riku,"_ he said silkily, even though Riku couldn't hear him. _"I had to keep you quiet somehow, and I gotta say it worked pretty well,"_ he added, referring to the first time he had run into Riku in the old days. Of all the things he could have done to hush her up, he had chosen to kiss her.

_"Don't remind me,"_ Daisuke whimpered to his other half, blushing scarlet at the humiliating memory. "Um," he said aloud, trying to change the subject. "Well anyway, just now she just told the girls she saw Dark on the news instead of in person. She lied," he murmured, still unable to think of a good reason.

"That _is_ weird," Riku agreed. "I'd have thought any girl would love to brag about meeting Dark in person. It's not something that happens every day, anyway," she said sourly.

"I know, me too," Daisuke said. "I can't think why she wouldn't tell the truth."

"Maybe she just doesn't want to make them jealous," Riku said reasonably.

"Maybe…" But Daisuke still wasn't sure. _"What do you think, Dark?"_

Dark shrugged. _"Who knows? I am curious, though… Maybe I can find out next time I see her."_

_I don't want there to be a next time,_ Daisuke thought miserably. In his opinion, the fewer girls Dark preyed on, the better.

"So Daisuke," Riku said, interrupting his thoughts, "you said we were going to talk about what was bothering you."

"Oh, right!" he said. "Well, to tell you the truth, it's about Shuuko. I've just been feeling really strange when I'm around her. Dark, too," he added.

_"Keep me outta this,"_ Dark said firmly.

"'Strange'?" Riku echoed dubiously. "How do you mean?"

Daisuke was starting to feel silly. "It's probably nothing," he said hurriedly. "In fact, don't worry about it."

Riku frowned. "Dai–"

"Really, it's nothing," Daisuke assured her as confidently as he could. "I'm fine."

Riku didn't look entirely convinced, but she let it drop. After that, the two of them ate the rest of their lunches in silence. Daisuke randomly wondered where Satoshi was. _He's probably on the roof again,_ he thought. He briefly considered asking Satoshi about "Yearning Heart," but Dark quickly made him change his mind.

_"Don't even think about it," _he growled. _"I don't need that guy's help with anything, you hear? If there's anything fishy going on with that sculpture, _I'll_ be the one to fix it. Plus, if Emiko finds out you asked a Hikari for help,"_ he added as an afterthought, _"I'll be the least of your problems."_

_"Okay, sorry for wondering,"_ Daisuke said defensively. He wished his family (and Dark) wouldn't dislike Satoshi so much, but no matter what he said, they always accused him of being bad news.

It wasn't long until the bell rang out, signaling the end of lunch. Riku walked with Daisuke back to the classroom while his eyes lingered on Shuuko, who was still looking mistily into space as she followed the crowd. During the rest of classes, he tried his best to push his worries from his mind, trying to convince himself he was being ridiculous. What if he was just imagining the whole thing? He was probably just jumpy from the other night. _I'm just paranoid,_ he thought stubbornly. _That's all._

After school when they were all free to go, Daisuke spotted Satoshi dozing at his desk. It looked like he hadn't even heard the bell. _I should wake him up before the school closes on him._

_"Nah, why bother?"_ Dark said dismissively.

_"Because he's my friend!"_ Daisuke said, defending Satoshi as best he could. He packed up his things in his bag and went to the sleeping boy's desk. "Um, Satoshi?" He gently shook his shoulder.

Satoshi's head jerked up out of his daze and he looked blearily up at Daisuke. "What is it?" he asked groggily.

"School's out," Daisuke smiled.

"Oh, of course," he mumbled, giving his head a small shake and standing up. He started packing up his things. Once he had finished, he swung his bag over his shoulder. "I'll see you later, Daisuke." He brushed past him and disappeared out of the classroom, casting him one of his unreadable glances over his shoulder. Figuring there was no use in pushing the point, Daisuke said goodbye to Riku and hurried home, looking forward to a normal evening of dinner and homework.

But this was not to be.

"Dai, thank goodness you're home," Emiko said cheerfully as soon as Daisuke walked through the door. "Hurry and get ready, you'll have to eat dinner when you get back."

"Wait, what?" he said confusedly, his brain not catching up. "Ready for what?"

"I sent another warning letter for you to steal a locket called 'Unspoken Lies' today! You have to leave in five minutes if you hope to make it in time!"

"Mom, not again!" Daisuke moaned. "I don't wanna! I have lots of homework!"

"Nice try, sweetie," his mother said, winking. "Go on, now. Good luck, and don't be late!"

Daisuke stormed upstairs to his room to get dressed. When would he ever get a break? _And why's Mom sending so many warning letters all of a sudden?_

_"Who cares?"_ Dark said breezily. _"I'm pretty happy about it, myself. I never do get out enough."_

Daisuke dressed in one of Dark's personal favorite outfits, a pair of black pants and a sleeveless black jacket with a white zipper down the front. Without a word, he closed his eyes and transformed, giving Dark control of his body.

"Jeez, you don't have to be so crabby about it," Dark harassed him. "It's not like you're the one doing all the work."

_"No, but I have my own social life, you know,"_ Daisuke grumbled.

"Oh, like what, homework?" Dark scoffed good-humoredly. "Stealing is much more exciting, in my opinion."

_"Maybe for you,"_ his tamer answered miserably.

Dark just tuned Daisuke's moping out; it would only distract him. He scooped up With from Daisuke's desk chair and stepped out into the night air on the balcony. "Let's go, With!" he said to his familiar. Once his wings had sprouted, he took flight, letting his muscle memory take him to the museum while he let his mind wander to other things. _I bet Shuuko will be there._

After several minutes of silence, Dark spotted the familiar mob scene ahead on the ground. As he got closer, he could hear the crowd screaming in excitement, waiting anxiously for his appearance, and it got many octaves higher when they saw him pass through a searchlight. _"This had better be more fun than last night,"_ the thief mused.

* * *

Satoshi stared up at Dark's silhouette as it passed over the moon as he dropped his hands into the pockets of his school uniform pants, wishing he had had time to change. He had no doubt that Dark would be able to get away again, knowing how incredibly incompetent the police force was. _I don't know if any amount of work I put into them will ever do any good._

_"If you doubt their ability so much, Satoshi, then perhaps we should take things into our own hands."_

Satoshi gasped as he felt a cold, icy stab of pain in his chest. _"Don't you dare,"_ he hissed as he clutched instinctively at the front of his shirt. _"I don't need you to capture Dark, got it? Now stay away from me!"_

A soft chuckle came in response. _"You know I couldn't do that even if I wanted to,"_ the smooth voice crooned. Satoshi could almost imagine it from right next to his ear. _"We need each other, Satoshi. You know this just as well as I do."_

_"You're wrong,"_ Satoshi snarled. _"You only need me as a vessel. You've done nothing but ruin my life."_

_"So bitter,"_ his other half said in amusement. Satoshi felt another stab of pain. _"This need not be so difficult if I only had your cooperation."_

_"In your dreams,"_ the boy answered, but he couldn't hold in another gasp as pain racked his body. He dropped to his knees, one of his hands sliding down the cold museum wall, gasping for air. _"Krad, no! Don't do this!"_

_"I'm sorry, Satoshi,"_ he answered, his voice devoid of compassion. _"If you want Dark gone, then this is what must be done."_

White wings erupted from Satoshi's back and a scream ripped through the night.

* * *

Dark dropped down to the ground as his smoke bomb sent all the officers running for clean air and slipped right through the front entrance without a sound. Smirking to himself, he took a second to imagine what swear words Saehara would use when he found out he had gone in right through the front door.

_"You did that just to make Detective Saehara mad, didn't you?"_

_"You betcha,"_ the young thief chuckled. He dashed through the museum towards the exhibition room he knew "Unspoken Lies" to be in, keeping a trained eye out for traps and the like. But without running into any trouble along the way, he stopped just before he entered the correct room and peered around the corner.

There was the display case that held the locket, but what was strange was that there were no guards surrounding it. Dark narrowed his eyes, carefully slipping through the doorway and looking around. He didn't even see any traps. Hesitantly, he approached the glass case and peered in it. The locket was there, sitting on its cushion, apparently quite vulnerable.

_Well this is suspicious,_ Dark thought. He hacked through the access code and lifted the lid off the case with care, gently picking up the locket. It was rather large and conspicuous, crafted in the shape of a coat of arms and roughly three inches across. He wasn't entirely sure what it was made out of, except that it was a cloudy black color, like marble, but it was very light. He stared at it for only a moment before he realized what was wrong.

_"It's fake,"_ Dark observed, frowning at the locket. _"I guess I'll be here a little bit longer than I had planned."_ He dropped the fake locket carelessly back on its table where he had found it and turned away, thinking.

_"Do you think it's Satoshi?"_ Daisuke piped up worriedly.

_"Probably,"_ Dark frowned. _"But if it is, I'm sure he's only doing it to put on a convincing act. This isn't a Hikari artwork, so I wouldn't think it would matter a whole lot to him."_ He slipped over to the nearest window and unlocked it, pulling himself out of it and taking flight. "_One thing's for sure, though,"_ he thought to himself and to his tamer. "_I'm not leaving until I get the real one. It wouldn't look good on my résumé if I left empty-handed."_

Dark looped around the searchlights to keep from being seen as he searched the ground for the blue-haired commander. As he was about to turn to the front of the museum, though, he felt a cold, icy feeling of dread settle over him that only meant one thing.

He stopped himself on a dime and looked towards the rear of the building. He shot towards it, turned the corner, and came to an abrupt halt.

"I was hoping you had gotten my message, Dark Mousy," a deep, cold voice loomed from above him.

Dark slowly looked up to meet the eyes of the being he hated above all others. White wings spread wide and his long blonde ponytail with the weightless cross attached to the end blowing out behind him, the angel in disguise smirked down at his other half as he hovered above the museum.

"I _really_ don't want to see your face right now, Krad," Dark growled through gritted teeth.

"As rude as always," Krad said smoothly, slowly descending to match Dark's height in the air. "However, I'm sorry to say that I haven't left you with much choice. I am assuming you still want this, of course," he continued, lifting up one of his gloved hands to show Dark something black in his palm.

Dark felt his stomach clench in anger. "Give me that locket, Krad, and we don't have to make this harder than it has to be."

Krad chuckled softly. "You don't expect me to simply hand it over, do you? I thought we understood each other better than that."

The black-winged thief balled his hands into fists, struggling to keep himself under control. "Listen," he said as calmly as he could. "We both know you couldn't care less about that locket, so stop kidding yourself. What do you really want?"

"What I _always_ want, Dark," Krad said, his golden eyes narrowed with malice. "I only need this locket to keep your undivided attention. So if you want your 'Unspoken Lies'," he circled Dark slowly, coaxing him towards the open space below them, "I'm afraid you'll have to take it by force."

"You bet I will," Dark snarled, "but not here." He flew sideways, trying to lead Krad away from the crowded museum. "Come on! Let's take this somewhere nice and quiet!"

"You are in no position to be making demands," Krad sneered. "If you want your locket, then come and get it!" He swooped down to meet Dark as he readied a white orb of light in his hands.

Dark turned to lead Krad away, but he wasn't prepared for the barrage of magic that pummeled him from behind, and he dipped dangerously, losing some altitude. Krad then swooped around and appeared in front of Dark, sending a whirlwind of white feathers at the phantom thief, sending him spiraling to avoid them.

_"Dark, we can't just keep running!"_ Daisuke said urgently.

_"I know that, but if we fight here, someone might get hurt!"_

"What's the matter, Dark?" Krad mocked, narrowly missing Dark with another blast. "You cannot hope to win by playing hide and seek."

Dark growled with frustration and reluctantly formed a blast of his own. _"Sorry Daisuke,"_ he said regretfully. _"I'll try to be careful, but it's still gonna hurt."_ He flung his magic at the White Wings as Krad sent his own at Dark. When the two collided, a loud explosion rocked both backwards, sending them both reeling.

"If this keeps up, though, we're not gonna get anywhere," Dark hissed to himself. He looked around desperately, looking for some way to get Krad away from all these people, but he was distracted again.

"My, my," Krad's voice said with amusement. "It seems that a little bird has strayed from her flock."

Dark whirled around and followed Krad's gaze. Down on the ground, a girl was following the wall of the museum at a run, pale blonde hair flying out behind her as she searched the sky for something. As soon as she rounded the corner she froze, her blue eyes falling on both Dark and Krad with fear etched on her face.

"No!" Dark yelled. "Go back! _Run!"_

"And an acquaintance of yours, perhaps?" Krad added, a tone of anticipation creeping into his voice. He let himself drift lower in the air, staring the girl down with golden eyes blazing with purpose. "You've wandered too far this night," he said to her in a deceivingly innocent voice. "I'm afraid I cannot let you leave."

White hot magic flared to life in his hand.

"Shuuko, _RUN!"_ Dark flattened his wings against his back and dove at top speed towards the ground just as the blast left Krad's outstretched hand. Shuuko turned and ran as fast as she could, but Krad's aim was sound.

Dark reached for Shuuko as he swooped over her, wrapped his arms around her in mid-flight, and braced himself as the blast crashed into them with enough force to kill.


	5. Hesitation

**CHAPTER FIVE: Hesitation**

Pain seared Dark's right side and he hit the ground hard, skidding along it until he hit the base of a tree with Shuuko still wrapped in his arms for protection. He felt dizzy as he opened his eyes again and tried to pull himself to his feet, but when he moved his vision swam dangerously. But even through the agony in his body where Krad's magic had smashed into him, only one thought penetrated his mind:

_Protect Shuuko._

He shook his head to clear his vision and he staggered to his feet, keeping Shuuko hugged against him protectively; he could hear her breathing hard in shock and he could feel her trembling. As he looked up, the buzzing in his ears subsided enough to where he could hear Krad laughing up in the air.

"Always so soft," he chuckled, smirking down at the thief with such contempt it was almost tangible. "You never do change, do you, Dark?"

Dark took a few seconds to get his breath back. "You," he gasped, glaring up at his nemesis, "are not gonna get away with this, you scoundrel. If there's one thing I can't forgive, it's attacking a defenseless girl."

Krad only looked more amused. "Tell me," he said coolly. "How do you expect to fight me when you're carrying an extra load? I told you before, Dark: I want your undivided attention."

"Yeah, well maybe that's gonna have to wait!" Dark snapped. "Shuuko's got nothing to do with this fight and she shouldn't be involved!"

"I don't get this!" Shuuko finally spoke, pulling away from Dark and looking at him with fear still in her eyes. "What is going on? Who is that?" she added, glancing in terror up at Krad, who was drifting lower.

"Sorry, Shuuko, but you're going to have to hold all your questions 'til later," Dark said hurriedly. "Now I need you to get yourself as far away from here as you can–"

"Have you not been paying attention?" Krad said with disguised irritation as he touched down to the ground. "I won't let you escape!" His golden eyes flashed with hatred and he began to glow with an intense white light.

"Shuuko, hurry and get out of here!" Dark ordered, spreading his wings and taking flight. "I'll keep this guy busy!"

Leaving Shuuko on the ground to either obey or stay, Dark flew at Krad with rage, creating his next assail in his hands as he went. The fact that the white-winged fallen angel above him had attacked Shuuko infuriated him, and he wanted nothing more than to make him pay.

_"Dark, be careful!"_ Daisuke warned. He could feel the phantom thief's temper getting the better of him. _"Don't use too much magic!"_

_"I know! Stop nagging!"_ Dark snapped back, hurling the blast at Krad, who dodged it by an inch. "Who's the one running now, Krad?" he taunted. "C'mon, bring it on!"

"With pleasure," Krad jeered with zeal.

"Stop!" Shuuko's voice sounded from down below. "Stop fighting!"

Dark whirled around to look down at her; she still hadn't run! She was staring up at them, watching them battle fiercely for reasons she couldn't begin to understand.

While his back was turned for a split second, Krad struck him in the back with another blast and he was thrown through one of the museum windows with a reverberating _crash._ Dark skidded across the floor of the room within in a shower of broken glass, yelling out in pain as the shards cut into his bare arms.

Shuuko screamed in horror from the ground. "No! Leave him alone! _Stop it!"_

Outside in the air, Krad's face twisted in a scowl. "What a nuisance," he spat, swooping down out of sight to the ground below.

Dark kicked some glass shards away from him and he pulled himself up onto his knees. _"Well, I'm not gonna lie,"_ he said ruefully to his tamer. _"This isn't going too well."_ Trying to ignore the screaming pain in his arms where bits of glass stung the open cuts, he staggered to the broken window.

Krad had landed on the ground in front of Shuuko and she was backing away, her face chalk-white with fear. "I wouldn't try to run, little mouse," he hissed. "If Dark is too soft to do away with you, then _I_ will."

The White Wings' eyes flashed, surrounding Shuuko with a golden light and she froze, completely paralyzed. Krad drew out a single white feather and held it high over his head, holding his prisoner's gaze with his own. The feather began to glow intensely, emitting a high humming sound that grew louder and louder.

"Krad, _NO!"_ Dark flung himself out of the window in a desperate last attempt to protect what seemed to be the only thing that mattered to him now. Deep down, he knew he wouldn't make it in time, but he refused to stop. _I won't leave her!_

The light from the feather illuminated Shuuko's face as tears welled up in her blue eyes. Krad's hand wound back, ready to unleash the power from the feather it held—ready to destroy her. A single, shining tear fell from her eye.

And Krad hesitated. His hand began to shake as his eyes followed the tear as it trailed down her cheek. His whole body began to tremble and his eyes widened, almost as if he were afraid.

Dark seized his chance. Just then he reached Krad and blasted him back with the last bit of magic he knew he could safely summon. The white feather's light died and it disappeared as Krad blew into a tree and fall at its base, dropping the large black locket on the ground. The light around Shuuko faded as well and she collapsed onto her hands and knees in the grass, shaking violently in shock. Dark stood over Krad, glaring venomously at the heap of white feathers and blonde hair.

"I dare you to try that again," Dark challenged contemptuously, "or are you too tired already?"

Krad pushed himself up onto one knee, letting out a cross between a cough and a laugh. "It seems," he hissed through his teeth, trying his best to catch his breath, "that I have touched a nerve."

_"Don't listen to him, Dark!"_ Daisuke said desperately. He could feel Dark's temper starting to boil again. _"He's just trying to make you do something stupid."_

Krad chuckled menacingly as Dark took a deep, rattling mouthful of air, trying to calm himself down. "One of these days, Dark, your soft spots are going to catch up to you all at once." He smirked up at the young thief who stood over him. "Well? Are you going to simply leave me here and break down under your tamer or are you going to stay and fight?"

Dark just took a step back. "If you push anymore, your tamer will die. And I don't know about you, but _my_ tamer sure doesn't want that to happen." He bent down, scooped up "Unspoken Lies," and turned to leave.

Krad opened his mouth to speak but suddenly keeled over on his knees, clutching at his own chest. "No!" he bellowed, starting to tremble violently. "I am not finished yet!"

_"That's enough!"_ his tamer shouted back. _"You've gone too far, Krad! It's time for you go back where you belong!"_

Krad howled in rage as he began to glow, his white wings dissolving into a whirlwind of feathers.

_"Satoshi's fighting back!"_ Daisuke said in relief, but it didn't last long. He suddenly started to panic. _"Dark, we need to go! If Shuuko sees–!"_

_"Aw man!"_ Dark turned and rushed to Shuuko, who was on her knees, watching Krad writhe with bewilderment written all over her face. "Shuuko, we need to leave." Dark said with as much composure as he could.

She looked up at him in confusion. "But what about_–_?"

"Sorry, no time for that," Dark interrupted. He bent down and scooped Shuuko up in his arms and immediately almost dropped her: his arms burned from the many cuts on them, which were bleeding.

"No, wait! Stop!" Shuuko blubbered, turning beet red in the face and trying to flail out of his grip. "You're hurt! You shouldn't carry me!"

"There's no time!" He gritted his teeth against the pain, spread his wings, and soared back into the air, leaving Krad's glowing form far behind.

"You're just going to leave him?" Shuuko shouted at him above the wind in disbelief. "He was hurt just like you!"

Dark gaped at her. "Wait just a second here," he said incredulously. "That guy down there just tried to kill you and you're _worried_ about him?"

Shuuko bit her lip; she looked torn. "I—well—," she stammered. "He was hurt!" she repeated helplessly. She looked like she felt completely lost.

Dark just shook his head in amazement. "You are so weird," he chuckled wryly, forcing a grin. "He'll be fine, if knowing makes you feel better. And you know," he added, grinning more broadly, "you don't have to squeeze me that hard. I'm not gonna drop you."

Shuuko's arms were wrapped around Dark's neck so tightly that it was getting a bit hard to breathe. "I'm sorry!" she wailed. "It's just, well… I'm afraid of heights!" she blurted.

Dark did manage to laugh that time. "It's okay," he assured her. "I don't mind."

She blushed scarlet again. Then she said slowly, "Um, I haven't had the chance to ask you… What should I call you?"

Dark chortled. "Gimme a break," he said, smirking at the thought. "Just Dark, of course. It'd be weird if you called me anything else."

Shuuko nodded, looking blissfully happy that she was able to call him something so familiar. "Where are you taking me?" she asked, keeping her eyes firmly on Dark's face to keep from looking down.

"Home," he answered simply. When he saw the look on her face, he quickly elaborated. "Your home, I mean, not mine."

She let out a deep breath in relief but quickly started worrying again. "But you can't carry me all the way home! You're bleeding!" And after a second of thought, she added, "And you don't even know where I live."

"Well, you can fix the last problem," Dark said dismissively. "Just tell me where to go."

"But you're hurt!" she insisted. "You can't go flying around like that forever!"

Dark sighed, humoring her. "What are you suggesting?" he asked.

"There's first-aid at my house," she said hopefully. "I could at least stop the bleeding."

Dark knew perfectly well that Emiko would be more than happy to patch him up back at Daisuke's, but he didn't want to pass up the chance to spend more time with Shuuko, either. "All right," he relented. "Lead the way."

* * *

Shuuko told him which way to go to get to her house as he flew over the city. Now that she was slightly more relaxed, she realized that she was kind of flying, something she had always dreamed of being able to do. True, she wasn't doing the actual steering or anything, but she was up high and moving through the air, which was close enough. _If I weren't so afraid of heights, it would be even more amazing._

"You said it's this neighborhood, right?" Dark's voice spoke up, waking her from her daydreaming.

She looked around. "Yes. It's that house down there, the one at the end," she pointed out, indicating it at the end of the street. Dark nodded and swooped down towards it, touching down in front of it.

"Nice place," he commented as Shuuko stumbled out of his arms, having to readjust to walking herself after the flight.

She fumbled with the key as she unlocked the front door and opened it, standing back to let Dark through. _My mom would kill me if she knew I was letting a thief into my house!_ she thought fretfully. Dark slipped past her, folding his wings tightly against his back to keep them from bumping the doorframe.

Shuuko hurried past the kitchen to the staircase. "Wait here," she told Dark before she dashed upstairs. She skidded around the corner and slipped into her bathroom, where she kept the first-aid kit her mother had demanded she take with her. _I guess it's lucky she did._ She took it down from the cupboard and ran back down the stairs to the kitchen, where Dark was leaning against the counter looking around.

"You don't have to rush so much," he told her. "It's not like these are life-threatening." He glanced down at his own arms, which were badly cut up from the glass.

"It's still not good to let cuts like that just sit out in open air," she said matter-of-factly. "They'll get infected." She set the first-aid box down on the table and went to the kitchen sink. "They need cleaning," she pointed out. "Come over here."

The phantom thief came to stand next to her at the sink while she let the water run from the faucet, testing the temperature once in a while. As she opened a nearby drawer to pick out a clean cloth, she spoke. "Who was that guy back at the museum?"

Dark frowned and didn't answer right away. While she waited, Shuuko wet the cloth under the warm water and started dabbing at the cuts, trying to clean out any bits of glass and anything else that might be there.

"Well, his name is Krad, for starters," Dark began, keeping his arm still for Shuuko as she worked at it with the water. "It's not really important who he is. He's my enemy and I hate the guy, but that's really all I can say."

"I picked up on all that," Shuuko said, squinting at a particularly deep cut. _This one's filthy!_ "Why were you fighting?"

Dark's mouth condensed into a thin line. She wasn't sure why, but he looked _very_ uncomfortable. "He took the locket I was supposed to be stealing," he said in a guarded tone, "probably just to tick me off, and it worked, I guess."

Shuuko didn't say anything, but pulled his other arm closer so she could clean it, too. Finally, she looked up at him and said, "If I'm not supposed to know then just tell me."

Dark blinked at her with an expression of deepest surprise. "Just like that?" he asked, mystified.

Shuuko just looked into his violet eyes. "You're a phantom thief," she said simply. "I'm sure there are a lot of things you can't tell me or anyone else. I understand." She considered him for a moment, then said softly, "I'd rather you just say you can't tell me than lie."

Dark stared at her, speechless. Shuuko gave him a small smile and gave him a gentle pull on the elbow. "Let me disinfect these, okay? You can sit down if you want," she offered, pulling out a chair for him at the small kitchen table. "You're probably exhausted."

Dark raised an eyebrow but sat down obediently as Shuuko pulled out a chair for herself and sat down in front of him. "Hold out your arm?" she requested shyly. Dark lifted one of his arms and held it out for her and she took it in her hands gently, careful not to get too close to any of the cuts. She set his arm on her knees as she reached over to open the kit.

"Those are gonna get stained," Dark muttered apologetically, glancing at the knees of her jeans.

But Shuuko just shook her head. "I don't mind," she said truthfully, pulling some disinfectant out of the box. Figuring that closed the point, Dark shrugged, leaving his arm where she had put it. Shuuko carefully lifted his arm again and began spraying the disinfectant over the cuts, then wiping off the excess from around them with another clean cloth. Then she did the same to the other arm and bandaged them both where she thought it necessary. Dark didn't fuss about it or complain but simply sat in silence, watching her work.

She finally put on the last bandage. "That should be all of them," she said standing up and closing the first-aid kit. "Um, do you want me to get you anything? Are you thirsty?"

Dark stood up, stretched carefully, and smiled down at her. "Nah, I'm fine. Thanks for this," he added awkwardly, indicating his arms.

Shuuko blushed slightly and shook her head. "It was nothing, really." She hesitated, wanting to speak but couldn't get up the courage. _I should probably let him leave, but…_

She suddenly saw Dark's face a few inches from hers as he bent down slightly to see her face. "Hmm?" he said softly.

_He's even more gorgeous up close,_ she couldn't help thinking. "I was just wondering…"

Dark didn't pull away. "Mmm hmm?" he pressed.

"Do you, um, want to stay a while?" she asked, barely above a whisper. As soon as the words were out, she blushed crimson and hid her face. _I probably sound so ridiculous,_ she thought embarrassedly. _I'm making an idiot of myself in front of him again!_

But Dark just smiled, his eyes still smoldering at her. "Maybe," he said in that velvety voice she had heard the first day she met him. "Won't your parents be home soon, though?"

Shuuko looked up. "Oh no, they aren't here," she blurted. "I came here alone."

"Alone?" he echoed cautiously.

"Nothing happened to them or anything," she said quickly. "They're back in America."

"I see," Dark said. "In that case, I'll stay if you want me to."

_Wow! I can't believe it!_ "Okay," she said timidly. "Do you want to see my room?" _I hope I don't sound like a little kid._

"Sure."

Shuuko led Dark up the steps to the second floor and to her bedroom doorway. Before letting him in, she glanced in it quickly to make sure it wasn't messy—it wasn't, thank goodness. Then she led him in.

Dark took a look around the room. "Nice," he said, grinning. "You live in this big house all by yourself? Does your family own it?"

"Not really," Shuuko answered, sitting down on the foot of her bed. "My parents are renting it for me. They send me money for groceries and other things through the mail."

"Ah, I see." Dark paused, then discreetly made his way to her bed and sat down next to her. He didn't sit uncomfortably close but nearer than most boys would have after knowing a girl for such little time. Dark watched her shamelessly for several seconds while Shuuko tried to keep from staring back.

"Hey, Shuuko," he said in a hesitant, slightly mischievous tone. "Are you free tomorrow?"

Shuuko's heart stopped; it felt like it literally forgot to keep beating for several seconds. _ There's no way,_ she thought firmly. _I'm reading way too far into this. It's not what it sounds like._ Trying to slow herself down, she thought about it. Tomorrow was Saturday, so after her classes in the morning, she'd have the rest of the weekend to herself. "Yes…" she breathed.

The young thief smiled and leaned just a little bit closer. "Want to go out on a date?"

She had misheard him. He had made a mistake. He was just joking around. She struggled to think of as many excuses for it as possible, but none of them really made much sense. _But there's no way he's asking me out!_ she thought hysterically. _Why in the world would he want to go out on a date with _me_ of all people? I'm nothing special at all!_

"Shuuko?" Dark said softly, gently bringing her back to Earth.

"I-I…" she spluttered, feeling her face turning red. _I'm acting like an idiot again! He's sitting there waiting for me to say something and all I can do ramble!_ She opened her mouth. _Yes! Say yes!_ she told herself over and over, but no sound would come out. So, unable to do anything better, she finally got herself to nod.

Dark beamed. "Good," he said, obviously very pleased. "How about I pick you up here at six?"

Shuuko was still nodding from before, so she just kept on nodding.

"Great," Dark said silkily. "I should get going now, but thanks for making me come. I enjoyed it." He smoldered some more at her, then asked, "Mind if I leave from your balcony?"

She kept nodding but realized this was the wrong response, so she switched to shaking her head.

"Thanks." As he stood up, he gently cuffed her chin with his thumb. "See you tomorrow, Shuuko." He slipped out through her balcony doors, spread his wings, winked, and took off. Shuuko ran to the doors to watch him fly away through the glass. Once she could no longer see him, she turned away and sat on her bed. As she sat there, the reality of what had just happened finally hit her.

_Oh—my—God_. _I'm going on a date with Phantom Dark!_

* * *

**I'm so sorry**** it's been so long since the last update! I've been extremely busy with this thing called purgatory (a.k.a. school, homework, etc.)... I hope you all liked this chapter. I will try to post the next chapter soon to make it up to you. As always, please comment whatever is on your mind!**_  
_


	6. The First Time

**CHAPTER SIX: The First Time**

_"I can't believe you, Dark!"_ Daisuke exploded. _"What were you thinking, asking Shuuko out on a date? I can't believe you would do this to me! You've only known her for two nights!"_

Dark sighed. He was having to endure more grief from his tamer than he thought to be reasonable. "Daisuke, you're making way too big of a deal out of this," he said calmly. "If _she_ thought it was too early then she wouldn't have said yes."

Daisuke had nothing to say to this, but he continued agonizing over it privately to himself. This did nothing but improve Dark's mood further; he felt endlessly pleased with himself for reasons he couldn't explain, especially not to Daisuke. When he finally landed on Daisuke's balcony, he went downstairs, readying himself for the worst.

Towa spotted him first from the kitchen and she almost screamed. "D-D-Dark! What happened to you?" she squealed, rushing to him from around the countertop to goggle at the state of his arms with her hands over her mouth. "Where did you get those bandages? How did you get hurt? Why–?"

Dark cut her off by placing a finger over her lips to quiet her, making her face turn ruby red. "Not too fast, Princess," he said silkily, taking his finger off when he was confident she wouldn't start blubbering again. "You can listen in while I talk to Emiko about it, okay?" Leaving the maid to swoon, he slipped into the living room to look for Daisuke's mother. "Emiko?" he called.

She appeared around the corner. "Oh, Dark, you're—what happened!" she gasped, spotting his arms as well.

"Calm down, I'll be fine," he assured her breezily. "Just had little run-in with Special Commander Hiwatari. Or rather," he elaborated, "Hiwatari's monster."

Emiko seemed to inflate with indignity. "Oh, one of these days, I'll get them for all the trouble they've caused!" she said with passion.

_"It's not Satoshi's fault!"_ Daisuke put in, trying to defend his friend even though his mother couldn't hear him.

Dark just shook his head. "Relax, Emiko," he insisted. "I'm all patched up now, so no harm done. And I _did_ get the locket, in case you're still interested," he teased, holding it up and waving it by its chain.

Emiko seemed to calm down a little, but she still sounded miffed. "Of course you got the locket! You wouldn't let anything stop you from stealing what you set out to steal! But wait," she continued, glancing at Dark's arms again. "Where did you get those bandages? I'd have heard you come downstairs to get them and I would have been more than happy to do it myself."

Dark shrugged. "Let's just say a rather avid fan of mine got a bit caught up in the action." At the rather suspicious look on Emiko's face, he added, "She didn't want me flying around with open cuts, so she insisted on fixing them up herself."

Daisuke's mother raised an eyebrow. "I don't know if that was such a good idea," she said uncertainly.

Dark just laughed it off. "Come on, nothing's wrong with it!" he said incredulously. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"The worst that could happen, Dark, is if she found out your connection to this family!" she answered in a very motherly tone. "I don't want you putting our secrecy at risk just because you wanted to please a _fan,_ you understand?"

Dark recoiled slightly, his ego a bit hammered at being scolded by his tamer's mom. "Relax," he said nervously. "I didn't tell her anything she shouldn't know, okay? I know what I'm doing."

"I hope so," she sighed. "If you've been fixed up already, I guess there's no point in me doing anything more. Now change back into Daisuke so he can eat his dinner."

Dark scowled at the order, but reluctantly obeyed. He went back upstairs into Daisuke's room and transformed, letting Daisuke change out of the outfit into more comfortable clothes, not to mention something that fit a little better.

When Daisuke was dressed, he went to the small mirror he kept in his room all the time because when he looked into it, he could see Dark as his reflection. "You know," he said hesitantly, picking up the frame to look into it, "Mom kind of has a point. If you slip up just once and say one wrong thing, she might do the math and make a connection. Oh, you shouldn't have asked her out!" he said again.

Reflected in the mirror, Dark scowled at him. _"I'm not stupid, Daisuke. I know there's a risk, but I'm _not_ going to slip up, okay? I have this all under control, so you can stop worrying about it."_

Daisuke just frowned sourly. "Where are you taking her, anyway?"

Dark just stretched his hands behind his head and snickered. _"I'm not telling."_

"What do you mean, 'you're not telling'?" he asked indignantly. "Why not?"

_"If you're that curious, just wait and see."_

Daisuke tried to see if he could pick up any hints from Dark's mind, but he couldn't: Dark was more experienced in hiding his thoughts than he was. Pouting, perhaps irrationally, he trudged downstairs. "Hey Mom," he called when he reached the kitchen, "I think you may get to patch me up after all. The bandages don't really fit my arms anymore."

He was right; the curve of Dark's arms was much different than Daisuke's, so the bandages were loose and not doing much good anymore. So while he ate his dinner, his mother hovered behind his chair and re-bandaged them all over again with her own supplies.

_"Hey Dark,"_ Daisuke pointed out, _"you didn't tell Mom about your date."_

Dark didn't seem interested._ "No, I guess not,"_ he said airily.

"Dark asked her out, by the way," Daisuke told his mother.

Dark scowled._ "You little blabbermouth…"_

Emiko looked up. "What? He asked out that fan of his?" When Daisuke nodded, she looked torn. "That was reckless, but…" she trailed off.

"But what?" Daisuke pressed.

"You'll have to let me pick out your outfit!" she said gleefully, standing up at once.

Daisuke's mouth fell open and he almost fell out of his chair from whipping around so fast. "W-Wait! Mom, that's totally not the problem!"

"What problem?" she said, completely oblivious to Daisuke's point. "When's the date?" she asked cheerfully.

"Tomorrow at six," Daisuke said miserably.

"Wonderful! I'll go looking right now!" Emiko turned and dashed into the next room out of sight, leaving her son staring after her with his soup spoon halfway to his mouth.

_"I can't believe this! She's actually on your side?"_ he said helplessly.

Dark was laughing uncontrollably. _"Take that, short-stuff!"_ he cackled triumphantly. _"Betcha didn't see that one coming, did you?"_ At Daisuke's silence, Dark just laughed harder.

Now definitely in a bad mood, Daisuke hurriedly finished his dinner and went upstairs to dress in his pajamas. After brushing his teeth, he climbed into bed and buried his head under the covers, willing sleep to come as soon as possible while Dark continued to snicker.

* * *

The next morning, Daisuke was late for school again from sleeping through his alarm. Chewing his toast and running the whole way, he almost forgot completely about Dark's date later that evening from the stress of rushing. He made it to the front gates just as the bell rang, and he managed to get to the classroom without being marked tardy.

The first thing he noticed was that Shuuko looked like she wasn't paying any attention during class. She stared in the general direction of the teacher like she was listening, but the hand holding her pencil never moved across her notebook. She seemed completely lost in her own world, and it was then, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, that Daisuke remembered the date. He was glad Dark was taking the morning to sleep, because if he saw what a profound affect he had had on Shuuko, his ego would just inflate even more.

The second thing he noticed was that Satoshi wasn't there at all. His desk in the back corner was completely empty, and he also had a good feeling of why that was, too. _Krad used so much magic last night that he's probably completely worn out._ At first he worried that Shuuko might notice his absence and make the link, but he dismissed the thought rather quickly. _There's no way she could figure it out from so few facts,_ he assured himself. _Maybe I _am_ worrying too much about it._

When morning classes were over, more people started noticing Shuuko's odd expression. Ritsuko, Mari, and Miyuki all surrounded her as soon as the bell rang, nosing into her business with their gossip.

"What's up, Shuuko?" Mari asked. "Thinking about someone special?"

The girls giggled as Shuuko jerked out of her reverie and looked up at them. "What? No. Well, kind of," she stammered.

"Is he tall, gorgeous, and flying on black wings?" Ritsuko teased.

Shuuko blushed. "I was just thinking about last night's broadcast, that's all. You know, when he stole 'Unspoken Lies'."

_She lied again!_ Daisuke felt for sure he was missing some kind of important detail now. How long was Shuuko going to keep her meeting with Dark a secret?

"Ah, of course," Takeshi butted in, leaning on Shuuko's desk. "I found out from my dad that the police tried to fool him with a forgery, but he didn't fall for it."

"Of course he didn't!" Miyuki said indignantly. "Dark's far too great a thief to fall for a trick like that!"

"Yeah, I'm not surprised, either," Takeshi shrugged. "I'm still wondering about the explosions."

"'Explosions'?" all four girls echoed.

"Come on, don't tell me you didn't hear about it!" Takeshi said. "Oh, you weren't at the site. Anyway," he continued quickly, "everybody heard some kind of series of explosions happening behind the museum but the police wouldn't let anyone get close. They couldn't get near it, either, but no one can explain why."

"How mysterious!" Mari said excitedly. "But wait," she gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. "You don't think they were trying to shoot Dark, do you?"

As all the girls gasped, Takeshi sighed and shook his head. "No, no, no, the police want him alive. They're not gonna go firing stuff at him. Not yet, at least," he smirked, sending all the girls into a panic again.

As Daisuke watched, Shuuko stood up from her desk. "Well, I have to go. See you all later."

They all said goodbye to her as she made her way to the classroom door where Daisuke was. "See you on Monday," she said to him, smiling a little. Daisuke returned it, but as she slipped past him, she stopped. "Um, if you see Satoshi," she said shyly, "tell him I hope he feels better." After that, she disappeared from sight out of the classroom.

Daisuke stared after her, his mind trying to jump to conclusions again. _She's just assuming he's sick,_ he told himself. _She can't possibly know his secret._ Shaking himself, he waited by the door as Riku came out of it.

"Hi, Daisuke," she said cheerfully. "Hey, are you okay? You look weird," she said bluntly, squinting at his face.

"I'm okay, I guess," Daisuke said slowly. "I'm just worried about tonight," he said, lowering his voice. "Dark asked Shuuko out on a date last night."

Riku's mouth fell open. "He _what?"_ she gaped. "What is _wrong_ with him? Is he trying to mess with your mind on purpose or something?"

"I really don't know," Daisuke sighed, rubbing his temples; he had a headache. "He just seems to really want to spend time with her. It's probably just because she's a fan, but I don't know."

Riku shook her head sympathetically at him. "Wow Daisuke, I'm sorry," she said honestly. "That's probably going to be pretty awkward for you. Where's he taking her?" she asked suspiciously.

"No idea. He won't tell me," he replied sourly.

"Well, I don't think that's a good sign," she said stubbornly. "You tell him from me that he'd better know what he's doing, or he'll be sorry!"

Daisuke grinned, cheered up a little. "He's sleeping right now, but I'll tell him."

"Good. I guess I wish you luck, then," she said uncertainly. "Do you have to leave to get ready for it, then?"

Daisuke shook his head. "No, it's not 'til six." Seizing his chance, he blurted, "Want me to walk you home?"

"Sure, that'd be great," Riku said cheerfully. "Let's go."

* * *

Shuuko wasn't a messy person; quite the contrary. She was tidier than either of her parents. Keeping things clean was a habit she had developed early in her childhood from her parents' ever so slightly hypocritical teaching. She always cleaned up after herself at meals; she put things away after she used them; she kept her bathroom spotless at all times and never left things lying around her room. She was organized.

Well, except right now.

At the moment, her bedroom was a complete wreck. Clothes were scattered everywhere on the floor, across her bed, over chairs, and wherever else clothes should or shouldn't be. Drawers were open, their contents strewn over the desk and nightstand in complete disorder. Her bathroom, hardly any better off, was littered with little bottles of lotion—scented and unscented—body mists, hair spray, and other random things that were only sitting out because they had needed to be moved to get to the important things underneath them.

And then, of course, lost in the middle of this scene of destruction, there was Shuuko.

The truth was, she had never been on a date—_ever._ She had never been asked out before by anyone, and even if she had, she might not have even said yes. As it was, her standards of boys were rather high: after reading so many idealistic fantasy and romance novels, who could expect anything else? But tonight that would change, for she was going on her very first date. There was only thing that kept her from feeling like it was real.

Out of all the boys in the world that could ever possibly be interested in going out on a date with her, it had to be Dark—_the_ Legendary Phantom Thief Dark. It was impossible, inconceivable, and _very_ unbelievable, yet it had happened.

_What in the world,_ Shuuko thought for the umpteenth time, _could a young, handsome, irresistibly gorgeous guy with _wings_ ever want to do with _me_, a plain, blonde-haired-blue-eyed girl with nothing special about her at all?_

She was standing in the middle of this natural disaster with no clue whatsoever as what to do with herself. She had hours before Dark would supposedly pick her up, but she had a sinking feeling that she'd need all that time just to figure out what to wear. That was why the clothes were all over the place; the rest of the stuff was there because she couldn't decide how over-the-top to pamper herself beforehand.

And even after all this, there was one more problem: she had no idea where they were going. Merely an hour ago, she had suddenly realized that Dark hadn't said _where_ they were going on their date, and that left her with nothing to go off of. Where would Phantom Dark take a girl on a date? Would he do something classic, like a movie or a candle-lit dinner? Or would he do something a little more original?

So, to put it lightly, she was distraught. She had already wasted an hour practically tearing her room apart looking for something decent to put on, except that she didn't know _what_ was decent for wherever they were going. She couldn't even ask Dark, even if she were able to pluck up the courage; she didn't know his phone number (if he even had one) and she certainly didn't know where he lived. In truth, she barely knew anything about him, only that he was the most incredible-looking guy she had ever seen and that he was a criminal. _I'm going out with a criminal!_ She shivered when she thought of what her mother would say if she knew.

She surveyed the room again; standing here in the middle of it all wasn't going to help, that was for sure. _I'm just going to have to put on something nice and hope it works._ She began rifling through the many piles of clothes, and the ones that were still hanging in her closet quickly ended up on the floor with the rest of them—all except one.

Her eyes fell on a skirt that she had gotten last year on her birthday from her mother that she had been sure she would never get a chance to wear. It was long, tiered, and free-flowing, falling to the middle of her shins, and a combination of all of her favorite colors. It was mostly a light turquoise but with lovely swirls of spring green and white mixed in, all blending together. It looked like a watercolor painting that you could wear.

_It's perfect._ If she could just find a top to go with it! She dove headfirst into one of the piles of clothes on her floor and started digging around, searching, searching… _Yes!_ She finally pulled out what she was looking for: a white, ¾-sleeve blouse with modest lace on the hem and around the boat-neck-shaped neckline.

Without a moment of hesitation, she waded through the clothes to her bathroom and changed in front of her mirror. When she was finished, she was content with the result. She wouldn't say she looked _beautiful_ in it—no one, especially her, could ever be beautiful enough for Dark—but she looked as good as she could hope. _I just hope Dark thinks so, too._

Afterwards, she went back to her room to sort through what modest jewelry she had. She didn't have pierced ears, so she didn't have many earrings; she only had a few pairs of clip-on ones. She didn't like wearing rings all the time because they just got in the way, she didn't like the big bold bracelets that were being sold these days, and the necklaces were hardly any better. She liked small and discreet things, ones that didn't jump out at you too much when you wore them.

Shuuko at last picked up one of her personal favorites, a delicate choker made of turquoise she had gotten at a gift shop a year or two ago. She worked at getting it on for a while, fumbling with the lobster-claw hook at the back of her neck, but when she finally got it to stay put, she was pleased to see it went with the skirt very well. She thought about adding something else, but decided not to. _I don't want too much dangling from me. I'd look too dressed up._

After she pulled a pair of white flats on her feet and gave her hair a comb-through, she couldn't think of anything else to do to make herself look any better. When she glanced at the clock, she almost fell over: it was already a quarter 'til six. _Wow, I sure didn't waste any time!_ She spent a few minutes hurriedly tidying up her room, picking up all the clothes, smoothing them out, and either hanging them back up or refolding them. When she had gotten her room almost back the way it had been before, she still had a few minutes to wait, assuming Dark didn't come early.

So for lack of knowing what else to do, she sat on her bed, hands clasped in her lap, and waited.

* * *

By the time Daisuke got home from walking with Riku, Dark was awake and feeling pumped. He seemed thrilled about his date to no end, which struck Daisuke as another strange sign. Dark was suave and sophisticated when it came to dates; he had never gotten so wound up about one before, at least not in Daisuke's memory. He was so worked up, in fact, that he started badgering Daisuke to "hurry" when they still had an hour before they had to leave.

"Calm down!" Daisuke finally insisted, unable to stand the weirdness any longer. "What's with you, Dark? What're you so worked up about?"

The outburst had left Dark a little stunned, but he recovered quickly. _"I am _not_ worked up!"_ he said in such a defensive way that he almost sounded like Daisuke used to while getting ready for dates. _"What makes you say I'm worked up?"_

"What you're doing right now is telling me you're worked up," Daisuke said honestly, picking up his mirror and looking at Dark, who was sulking. "There's no need to rush. You've got almost an hour before we have to leave." When Dark stayed in pent up silence, Daisuke sighed. "Look, just let me have a quick dinner, okay? Then we'll get ready."

_"Fine," _Dark relented. _"But make it a _very _quick dinner."_

Daisuke hurried downstairs and ate as quick a meal as anyone could, almost choking on his food every time Dark reminded him of their "tight schedule." Dark eventually drove him insane enough to where Daisuke just left the rest of his dinner for Towa to clean up as he tripped his way up the stairs.

In his room, Daisuke reluctantly changed into the outfit Emiko had insisted Dark wear: the pair of nice black pants, dark red dress shirt, and black pinstripe jacket. He'd worn it once before on a date with Riku's twin sister. Once he was dressed, he closed his eyes and transformed, leaving Dark standing in his bedroom.

However, instead of spreading his wings and leaving right away, Dark went to Daisuke's mirror to look at his reflection critically. Something just didn't seem right…

_"What's wrong with you _now?" Daisuke asked irritably.

Dark took his jacket off and stripped off his shirt, tossing them onto Daisuke's sofa. _"I don't want to wear those,"_ Dark said resolutely, starting to dig in his half of Daisuke's closet.

_"Why not? What's wrong with it?"_ Daisuke pressed, completely confused.

_"Not the look I'm going for, y'know?"_ He finally withdrew a shirt Daisuke hadn't expected: it was a billowy, all-white, button-up, short-sleeved shirt that Dark never really wore. Daisuke had a sneaking suspicion that it was because Dark associated white too much with Krad, but he couldn't be sure. Dark pulled the shirt on and buttoned it up, leaving the top two undone.

_"That's more like it,"_ Dark said in satisfaction, taking in his reflection again. He turned away from the mirror and scooped up With, stepping out onto Daisuke's balcony. "Let's go!" His black wings sprouted, spread, and swept him up into the air. He swiveled in the direction of Shuuko's neighborhood and soared towards it.

After several minutes up in the air, he spotted her house beneath him. He landed softly on her roof to wait for the chime of six. He hoped he wouldn't have to wait long, because the thought made his stomach clench strangely. But he was _not_ nervous; no way.

Still, he ended having to wait what felt like forever; he now regretted rushing Daisuke so much. But finally, just before he thought he might go insane, he heard it: the distant sound of a clock starting to chime. One… two… three… _Oh, hurry up!_ Five… six!

Triumphant at last, he swooped down to her bedroom balcony and landed. He stepped up to her balcony doors and couldn't resist looking through the glass into her room. He saw Shuuko there, sitting on her bed, and staring at her knees, waiting for him—_him!_ The thought sent a strange warm thrill though him. He took a deep breath in, out, and tapped lightly on the frame.

Shuuko jumped so violently that she almost fell off the bed. After catching herself, she looked at the doors and saw him, smiling at her and giving her a small, casual wave. Staring at him like she had never seen another human being before, Shuuko stumbled to the doors and opened them.

For Dark, the first word that came to mind when his eyes took Shuuko in was "stunning." The fitted white blouse, the blue skirt that matched her eyes—she was _beautiful._ For a minute he couldn't speak as she looked up at him expectantly.

"Hey," he finally managed to say. "So, you ready?"

Shuuko nodded, lost for words. "Oh, um," she said abruptly. "Since I didn't really know where we were going, I don't know if I'm dressed right. I can change if I should wear something else–"

"No, don't," Dark said so suddenly that Shuuko stopped short. "Don't change," he said a little more calmly. He gently wound a finger around a lock of her hair and let it fall back over her shoulder. "You look beautiful."

Shuuko quickly looked down at the ground as if it were a great sin to keep looking at him. Even though her head was down, he could still see the blush blooming across her face and he smiled a little wider; he felt so warm.

"Well, if you're ready," Dark said, adjusting himself so he was slightly behind her, "let's go!" In one fluid motion he scooped her up into his arms, making her gasp in surprise. He spread his wings and leapt into the air, soaring high over the houses below.

Shuuko clung to his shoulders and just stared at his forehead to keep from looking down. "W-Where are we going?" she stammered nervously.

Dark grinned. "You'll see. In the meantime," he said, "look down for a sec. I won't drop you." He tightened his grip on her to back it up.

Shuuko looked like she _really_ didn't want to, but she carefully looked down and gasped. "It's… It's beautiful."

They were flying high over the city now and the sea of lights below in the darkness looked like another sky full of colorful stars. Shuuko stared at it with wide eyes, the lights reflecting in them and making Dark smile. "Yeah, it is," he agreed. For a few minutes, they flew in silence until Dark saw their destination in the distance. "Here we are," he said excitedly, swooping down and landing, setting Shuuko carefully on the ground.

Shuuko tore her eyes away from the city lights, which had gotten rather far away, and looked around at where they were. Dark had landed on an outcropping of land high above sea level near the coast next to the windmills. She could see the ocean with the full moon reflected on its rippling surface.

"Dark," she breathed, "it's gorgeous!"

The thief next to her grinned. "Look up."

She did, and was met with even more beauty. Now that they were farther away from the city lights, they could see the starts more clearly. Shuuko looked back at Dark with her eyes shining. "How did you know?" she whispered. "I love looking at the sky, I love the full moon, _and_ I love watching the ocean!" She shook her head slowly at him in complete disbelief. "How could you have known?"

Dark considered her for a moment. "I don't know," he said slowly. "I just thought it seemed like you." He sat down on the grass and patted the spot next to him. "Sit down."

Shuuko looked like she was frozen solid in shock for several seconds, but she finally sat down carefully next to him, still staring at him. Dark felt like something in his chest was swelling up from being filled with hot air; he was nothing short of ecstatic at the look of bliss he had seen in her eyes. He watched Shuuko as she looked back up at the night sky, gazing at the full moon with respect.

The two of them sat in silence beside one another for several minutes. Then, after a while, Shuuko finally spoke. "You know," she said softly, "I haven't told anyone."

Dark raised an eyebrow. "Told anyone what?"

"About you." She met his violet eyes with her blue ones unblinkingly. "About meeting you."

The phantom thief gave himself a moment to think before answering. "I wouldn't have expected that."

"I just thought," Shuuko said shyly, "someone as famous as you probably doesn't meet fans the way you met me very often, so if I told a whole bunch of people, it might start rumors or mess up your reputation. I don't want to be the person who does that to you."

Dark just stared at her, surprisingly overcome by her words. "That's…" he hesitated, searching for the right words. "That's very thoughtful of you. Selfless, too," he added.

Shuuko just shook her head modestly and looked back out over the ocean. "It's just the right thing to do," she insisted. Dark felt the sensation again: his body felt tingly and a ripple of warmth passed through him like he was being flushed out with warm water.

"But you're right," he said softly. As Shuuko looked back at him, he held her gaze. "I don't go out of my way for just anyone."

Shuuko was searching his eyes again with the same expression she had worn the moment she had met the eyes of Daisuke. She looked slightly confused, but also intent, determined to find something within him.

Dark lifted a hand and tenderly stroked Shuuko's cheek with a finger, cupping her chin and lifting her face to his. "But for you," he murmured, "I'd do that and a whole lot more."

Shuuko looked mystified, almost afraid. "Dark–"

But she didn't finish. Dark had already pressed his lips against hers.

* * *

**Dark and Shuuko finally kissed! Has Dark's uncharacteristic patience paid off or is it still too soon? Will their date end well or did Dark just blow it? And how will Daisuke react to this inevitable twist? Find out in Chapter 7! Don't touch that back button!**

**Okay, that was kind of lame. ^^; At least I can say that I tried! Thanks to everyone who commented on the last chapter: your positive feedback always motivates me to give you more chapters to read. You've all be very sweet to me and it makes me feel all warm and fluffy inside.  
**

**And extra-special thanks to those of you who are watching my story and getting notified of updates. That tells me how much you're dedicated to reading it, and it flatters me so much.  
**

**Luff you all! 3  
**


	7. Seeing Things?

**Yes, it has been forever, but I'm back! I'm not dead! This thing called "life" happened and a ton of things all came raining down on me... You get the picture. But here's the good news: because you've all been so patient, I'm giving you all a special treat and uploading TWO chapters instead of just one, and I might give you a third fairly soon. Now read and enjoy! As always, reviews, feedback, and general comments are always appreciated!  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN: Seeing Things?**

Never—in his entire existence—had he ever felt a kiss like this. A spark seemed to leap between their lips when they touched and he felt his heart erupt in flames and burn his chest, almost to the point of pain, but not nearly enough to make him stop. _Nothing_ could, or would, make him stop; not now.

He wasn't sure how long he held her there. A second? A minute? It felt like the world was standing still, yet time seemed to be whirling by in a blur. He didn't want it to ever end, but his instinct told him to be careful: if he stayed too long, it would scare her away. But if he stopped too soon, he just it might tear his heart in two. What could he risk? He might have already been there too long, and he wouldn't risk the chance to kiss her again for anything.

With all the self-control he could muster, he gently pulled away. Shuuko gasped for air as soon as her lips were apart from Dark's; he almost gasped too, but he didn't want to show his composure had been shaken so much, so he just held his breath. Shuuko, breathing hard, slid a hand over her mouth and stared at him in a mixture of shock and bewilderment. After several seconds of slowly shaking her head at him, she let her hand slowly drop from her face.

"Dark," she whispered, "Why…? Why did you…?" She seemed completely unable to get her thoughts together. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. "Why did you kiss me?"

Dark had slowly been able to get his breath back without being obvious about it and now had the energy to speak. But before answering, he thought about her question. All the girls he had kissed before had never asked him _why_ he had kissed them—they all assumed it had been for the same reason as all the others: love. That wasn't _his_ reason, though; a kiss was just his greeting.

And yet Shuuko asked him _why,_ a question he hadn't really had to answer directly before. But his motive hadn't been different. He hadn't kissed her for _that_ reason, not for _love_… had he?

Suddenly his mind began to spin out of control, dizzying him and making him want to gasp for air again. How could he not know anymore, not understand his own heart? He couldn't just leave her there forever, waiting for an answer that he couldn't give. What should he say? What _could_ he say?

"Do you not know?"

Dark looked up. It was just a simple, honest question that required an equally simple and honest answer. Shuuko wasn't pressuring him. Was she leaving him an out on purpose? For some reason, the simplicity of the question just left him more confused than before.

"I…" he said, desperately trying to collect himself again, "I use a kiss as my greeting," he said slowly, giving himself something to start off of. When Shuuko didn't say anything, he took it as a sign to continue. "I… I haven't really had another reason."

Shuuko listened in silence, searching his face again. After several seconds, Dark began to wonder if she would ever say anything, but she finally did.

"It's okay," she said slowly as if she were trying to keep her voice calm. "You don't have to answer me right now, not if you're not sure. No, don't say anything," she said as Dark opened his mouth. "It's _okay_ if you don't know. For all you know, I don't either." She only smiled at Dark's bemused expression. "Maybe we both need time."

Dark blinked, unsure about what to think. What she said confused him, but she didn't look like she was going to elaborate, so he didn't press her. For a few minutes, they continued sitting beside each other in the grass, watching the sea and the stars. Then they heard the distant clock begin to chime seven.

"Hey," Dark said gently, "you ready to call it a night?"

Shuuko gave him her small, shy smile. "Sure."

Dark stood up and offered Shuuko his hand, which she took timidly, and helped her up. Then he scooped her easily into his arms. _She's so light!_ "Let's get you back home." The phantom thief spread his wings and took to the sky, holding Shuuko tightly against him to keep her warm from the wind.

When he finally touched down on Shuuko's balcony, he made to put her down but stopped. "Shuuko?" he said softly.

But she didn't answer. Held securely in Dark's arms, her head leaning against his chest, she had fallen asleep to the beat of his heart. Dark couldn't help but smile; she looked so sweet while she slept. He carefully unlocked her balcony doors and slipped into her room, gently laying her down on her bed. Before turning away, he pulled out a black feather and put it on her pillow next to her head and brushed a strand of hair from her face.

He whispered softly. "Sweet dreams, Princess." Then with only the soft click of her balcony doors, he was gone.

* * *

_I should've gone to bed earlier,_ Satoshi thought, sighing. His forehead slumped forward and hit the desk hard, and he wondered if he'd have a bruise there later. He heaved his head up again and pushed his glasses back up his nose, pushing his chair back. When he stood up, his knees almost gave out and he had to catch himself to keep from falling.

Satoshi gritted his teeth in frustration. He couldn't even count all the times Krad had pushed him over the edge, forcing him to resort to stumbling around his desolate apartment for days trying to make himself useful. What made it worse this time was that there wasn't anything he _could _do. Yes, he had stayed up all night on his computer researching until one in the morning, but he had been researching what to research, and that didn't help anybody.

He cast a resentful glance around the room. Despite how empty, dark, and lonely it was, he had gotten used to waking up to this every morning and coming back home to it every evening. Living in this apartment was like walking through his own life, for they were the same: empty, dark, and lonely.

He looked at the clock—it was already six in the morning, so he supposed it had technically been Sunday for a while now. He cautiously took his hands off his desk, sat down on the edge of his bed, and let his mind replay what had been flashing in and out of it all night. He saw the moon, felt the agony as Krad's wings ripped themselves from his body, and he saw what Krad had seen, too: the museum down below as he waited for the Phantom Thief to come to him, Dark crashing through the window in a shower of tiny bits of glass, and Shuuko.

_Shuuko…_ That was what most unsettled him. He had never taken a large interest in her before now. He had glanced at her occasionally as she passed his desk at school, but he had never made any special effort to get to know her; he never did that for anyone these days. But that night something extraordinary had happened. Through Krad's eyes, he had watched in horror as his other half stood over that girl and had raised that feather with every intention of killing her. He had been sure he would do it; Satoshi had never seen someone die right in front of him before, but he had been prepared to see it that night. It had seemed inevitable.

Yet something about that girl had stopped him. Something about her fearful face staring up at him with tears in her crystal blue eyes had made Krad hesitate just long enough for Dark to save her life. Satoshi, for the longest time, had been completely convinced that Krad was nothing but a cold, heartless monster.

What could have possessed Krad for that split second to make him stop? The boy had been debating this for hours and he still had no good answer because the only thing he could think of didn't make sense, and that would be if she had used some kind of magic. _She couldn't have,_ he thought confidently. _If she had that kind of power, I would have felt it from her the first day she came to Azumano Middle School._ He shook his head until it hurt.

_"Thinking disquieting thoughts, Satoshi?"_

Satoshi felt his stomach clench and an icy shiver travel through his body; how long had Krad been awake? "None of your business," he growled through gritted teeth.

Krad chuckled, but in a more resigned way than usual. _"Sharing your mind is beyond my control, I'm afraid,"_ he said, not sounding quite apologetic enough to be sincere.

Satoshi let out a short cough of derisive laughter. _"Don't pretend that you mind all that much,"_ he said bitterly.

_"I will admit that your thoughts can be rather intriguing at times,"_ Krad mused, making Satoshi's blood boil, _"but at the moment, I would say you're dwelling far too much on the irrelevant."_

_"You call almost killing an innocent person irrelevant?"_ Satoshi snarled, enraged. _"So why _didn't_ you finish her off? Did your conscience finally catch up to you after all these centuries?"_

_"Satoshi,"_ Krad said calmly, _"if I had used any more of my power, your body would have been severely compromised."_

_"And since when have you ever cared about that?"_ Satoshi retorted. _"What happened to trying to take my whole body for yourself?"_

_"Could I possibly be hearing you complain that she survived?"_ his other half asked sneeringly. _"You should be glad that no harm befell the girl."_

Satoshi bit his lip, biting back the retort he longed to throw at the beast within him. He didn't fail to notice, however, that Krad seemed to be avoiding the actual question, and that made Satoshi believe even more strongly that this girl, Shuuko, was worth looking into.

Krad chortled at Satoshi's thoughts, making him jump. _"Always the intellectual, aren't you? Very well, Satoshi, carry on with whatever pastime pleases you, but do be careful of your boundaries."_

Withdrawing, Krad left Satoshi to wonder exactly what that meant. The fact that Krad had completely neglected to answer the question gave Satoshi reason to believe that Krad didn't know the answer any better than he did, and that was nothing short of fascinating. He pushed himself up and sat back down at his computer, thankful to have a purpose in mind.

Being Special Commander, he had access to all the files the police had on every citizen in the district, and he hoped that this might help him turn up some interesting information. But after almost an hour of digging around, he came up with next to nothing. He did, however, know the reason why: she had only come to this country a few days ago, and thus had no records with the Azumano Police whatsoever. He tried searching in other databases, even doing a bit of clever hacking along the way, but still knew nothing more than he already did.

_I guess I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way,_ he thought determinately. _It'll certainly take longer, but if she's really something special, then it'll be worth it._

He looked at the clock again: it was eight in the morning now. _Good enough,_ Satoshi thought determinately. After changing into some different clothes, he dragged himself downstairs, kicked off his slippers, and pulled on his shoes. He wasn't really sure what he planned on doing by walking around aimlessly, but he figured it was better than loitering around his apartment with no way to make himself useful. So, after grabbing his jacket from over the back of a chair, he pulled open the door and stepped outside into the brisk morning air.

Without much thought, he started walking, letting his feet carry him. After several minutes of mindless strolling, he made himself stop and think. If she was even out here, where would she be? He wished he had paid more attention to her earlier; if he had, he might at least have a vague idea of where she might want to spend her weekend. _Maybe I'm just wasting my time._ He sighed and looked towards the sky, watching the few clouds drift steadily by. It was a nice day, but Satoshi rarely thought about those kinds of things.

Figuring he really didn't have anything to lose, he decided to think of things in a little more of an unorthodox way. He pictured Shuuko in his mind and tried to think of everything he _did_ know: she looked quiet and reserved most of the time, but not in the same way everyone else saw him. She seemed timid and sometimes uncomfortable, like she didn't quite know where she belonged in the world, but not in a sad way. _Who does that remind me of?_

Daisuke Niwa—the first person he had ever opened up to. The way Shuuko acted all the time reminded him of the way Daisuke used to act: timid, hesitant, clumsy, unsure of himself, but with a good heart. Daisuke was always optimistic, looking forward to the next day with brightness. Satoshi knew that he might be assuming too much, but it seemed to him that Daisuke and Shuuko had a lot in common. And if that were true, then they might have similar interests. _Where would Daisuke go on a day like this?_

And then it came to him: the fountain by the park was an ideal place to relax in peace while enjoying the weather, and since Shuuko was new in the town, she might like the view, as well. _It seems likely,_ Satoshi induced, pushing his glasses a little farther up his nose. _But if she's not there, then the chances I'll find her elsewhere are rather slim._ His mind made up, he crossed the street and headed for the park.

After several minutes, he saw the fountain at the top of the stairs on the hill. Taking his time, he slowly climbed the steps. _I'm probably stretching my luck way too far,_ he berated himself. Following the curve of the stairs, he finally reached the top and came to face the large, ornate fountain that the park of Azumano was famous for. He looked around, not seeing anyone, and started to orbit the fountain, checking all sides of it for people. It seemed completely deserted. But just as he came to the other side of it, he saw one single person.

Lo and behold, it was Shuuko. She was leaning against the guardrail on her elbows, supporting her chin in her hands, and staring out in the distance with a faraway look in her eyes. In itself, nothing she was doing was strange or out of the ordinary in any way; what was mystifying was that there didn't seem to be any trace of emotion that suggested she had almost been murdered two nights before.

Completely stunned by his otherworldly stroke of luck, Satoshi was lost for words for a few seconds, and Shuuko didn't seem to know he was there. Finally figuring he should announce his presence, he did what all boys did when they didn't know any better.

He cleared his throat. Shuuko screamed so shrilly that Satoshi thought that it was only appropriate to being startled by a gunshot. She jumped away from the rail, her head spinning in every direction, and spotted him. She stared at him like a frightened woodland animal and refused to speak; perhaps she had lost her voice.

"Sorry," Satoshi muttered. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Shuuko just stared at him, then slowly shook her head. "I-It's okay," she stammered. "I startle easily." When Satoshi didn't say anything, she added, "I, um, didn't know you came here often."

Satoshi just blinked. "I don't."

His few words were greatly discouraging her, but Satoshi wasn't really concerned with that. "So, um," Shuuko tried again. "You're name's Satoshi Hiwatari, right? Takeshi told me," she explained.

"No doubt," he answered flatly. So far, Satoshi's assumptions were proving true. She seemed awkward, hesitant, shy, and clammed up within herself.

Shuuko was rocking back and forth on her feet uncomfortably. "Um, my name's Shuuko, by the way," she said softly.

Satoshi's expression didn't change. "I know."

"I was just looking at the view," she said quickly and quite unnecessarily, the words spilling out of her mouth. "I just came to Japan, so… Oh, the teacher already told you that." She looked down at the ground in embarrassment.

Satoshi just dropped his hands into his pockets and looked out over the rail, too. _If I'm going to find anything out,_ he thought to himself, _I'm going to need to do better than this._ "Enjoying Azumano so far?" he made himself ask, looking back at her.

Shuuko looked up. "Oh yes, I like it a lot," she said, forcing a small, shy smile. "It's…"

It took Satoshi a minute to realize Shuuko had broken off. When he focused on her face, he saw her staring at him with a slightly confused expression. She looked like she had seen something and thought maybe she had imagined it but wanted to make sure. Satoshi blinked and stared back, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Girls didn't ever stare at him like that.

"What is it?" Satoshi asked hesitantly.

Shuuko actually took a step away from him. "I…" She looked afraid. "I don't want to get in your way, so I'll just go." She turned around and started walking—no, _running_—away.

"Hey! Wait!" Satoshi reached out and managed to catch hold of her wrist. She skidded to a halt and whipped her head around, staring at him like he had a knife in his other hand. "You don't have to leave," he said, quite bewildered.

_"If she wants to leave, then by all means let her,"_ Krad suddenly spoke up. For some reason, he sounded slightly urgent, like he really _wanted_ Shuuko to leave.

"Shut up," Satoshi muttered.

"What did you say?" Shuuko asked like she thought for sure she had misheard him.

Satoshi hoped she had. "Nothing," he said, cursing himself for opening his mouth. Realizing he was still gripping Shuuko's wrist, he quickly dropped it and took a step back. "Sorry," he said again.

Shuuko just shook her head, rubbing her wrist slightly. "It's fine" she said uncertainly. "I'm sorry for freaking out like that. I shouldn't have."

"Well," Satoshi said, still feeling a little shaken, "what was wrong?"

"It's nothing," Shuuko said a little too quickly. "I'm just seeing things, that's all."

Satoshi frowned slightly. "What did you think you saw?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know," she said doubtfully. "For a second… Oh, never mind." She forced a nervous little giggle that sounded completely fake. "It looked like something happened to your eyes, but it must just be the sun on your glasses or something." She shook her head rapidly as if she were trying to shake a fly off her head. "Really, it's nothing."

"If you say so," he muttered, not the least bit convinced. Inside, he was madly frustrated. She was too strange to make any sense out of! _How am I going to get anything useful out of her?_

"You sure you don't want me to go?" Shuuko asked anxiously, bouncing on the balls of her feet a little more. "Don't worry about hurting my feelings or anything, because I can go if–"

"Don't worry about it," Satoshi cut her off, holding up a hand to make her stop talking. _I don't know if I've ever seen anyone so jumpy._ A few seconds of silence ensued where both Satoshi and Shuuko stood at a distance from each other, not looking at the other. Then, struck by an idea, Satoshi spoke again.

"No doubt you've heard of Phantom Dark by now," he said loftily, trying to sound conversational and nothing more.

Shuuko looked up then. "Yes, some girls at school told me about him a few days ago," she said, sounding interested.

"Then you've seen him on the news?" he asked.

Shuuko hesitated just long enough for Satoshi to notice. "Yes, I've seen him."

_Interesting,_ Satoshi mused to himself. _She says she's seen him, but she isn't saying whether she's seen him on the news or in person. If she means the news, that's definitely not all, because she was at the museum in person last night. And why is she acting so normal after almost getting killed?_

Just as Satoshi opened his mouth to keep talking, his cell phone rang. _What lousy timing._ "Sorry," Satoshi said to Shuuko, pulling the phone out of his pocket. He really _was_ sorry; he wanted more out of her. "I have to take this. Just a second." He turned slightly away from Shuuko and answered. "Yes?"

"Satoshi, hello!" a young man's voice said on the other end: his father, Chief Hiwatari of the Azumano Police. "How have you been?"

Satoshi's face twitched. He wished his discussions with his father could stay to-the-point. "Fine," he said mildly.

"I'm glad," Chief Hiwatari answered in his very-pleased-fatherly voice. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you much lately. You know we've both been very busy with the police–"

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Satoshi interrupted, keeping his voice polite but firm.

He heard his father laugh a little on the other end. "Oh yes, that, of course. We've just received another warning letter from the phantom thief."

_Oh, joy._ "I see," he replied, his voice devoid of emotion.

"I wanted to tell you ahead of time so you could start planning your defenses," his father said. "We wouldn't want Dark to be disappointed, would we?"

Satoshi clenched his other fist. Even though his father was being as indirect as possible, he knew what the chief was really telling him: he was tired of Dark getting away and he wanted him caught; _now._ "I'll do that," Satoshi replied flatly.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. You probably already have plenty of ideas, you plan ahead so much–"

"Anything else?" Satoshi cut him off.

"What?"

"Now really isn't a good time to have a long talk," he pressed, "so is there anything else important?"

His father chuckled; he _hated_ that. "No, that's all for now. The rest can wait. I'll see you again soon, Satoshi. I promise."

Satoshi hung up and pocketed his cell phone, sighing heavily. He didn't _want_ to see his father soon, but he really didn't have a choice. He turned back around to face Shuuko, who was back to staring out at the view, politely not staring at him or listening in on his conversation.

"I'm done," he said.

Shuuko jumped and looked back around. "Oh, okay. I didn't notice," she said shyly, turning slightly towards him but keeping a hand on the rail. After another awkward silence, she spoke up. "So, um, do you like to read a lot?"

Satoshi blinked. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I see you read a lot before class at school," she said.

"Oh, that," Satoshi said, realizing what she meant. He reached into this breast pocket and pulled out his small notebook. "This isn't a novel or anything. It's just a notebook."

"Oh," Shuuko said, looking a little embarrassed. "For school notes?"

"No." He shook his head and replaced the notebook in his front pocket. "Just for anything else."

Shuuko smiled. "I think that's neat," she said, sounding a little more confident now. "I've heard that really helps writers to carry a notebook around with them and write down little random words or phrases they like. Do you write?"

Satoshi shook his head quickly. "No."

Shuuko cocked her head a little to one side. "Then what do you take notes of?"

_Well, this is awkward._ "Just things I see. Mostly about people," he added lamely. He suddenly felt like he was losing his cool.

"Do you want to be a sociologist, then?" Shuuko asked excitedly. "You like observing people's behavior?"

"Um," Satoshi blurted. This was proof: he never said "um." "Maybe?" he said, the last part sounding more like a question than an answer.

"I try to write sometimes," Shuuko said absently. "I love poetry, so most of the things I write are little poems, but they never turn out right, so I never end up doing anything with them."

"I think that's a common problem," Satoshi replied, trying to console her, since she sounded a little sad. Why, though? He didn't console people as a habit. "It's the same way with your common essay. It takes practice to be comfortable with it. That's what I've heard, at least… What's wrong?"

He had just noticed Shuuko staring at him again with that deeply disturbed expression. "I-I don't know," she said. "I just saw that thing again…"

Satoshi felt something in him shift uncomfortably. Was it Krad? Or his stomach? He could still feel that Krad was awake and listening to every word they were saying. "'Thing'?" he echoed.

Instead of answering, Shuuko took a small step toward him. "Um, Satoshi?"

"Yes?" he said slowly. He wanted to step back from her, but he held his ground.

Shuuko looked _very _uncomfortable. "I… I want to see something."

"Okay…" Satoshi waited, resisting the urge to back away.

She took a deep breath. "Could you, um… Could you take off your glasses for a second?"

Satoshi blinked; what a weird question. "Why?" he asked, genuinely baffled.

"I just want… I just need to see something," she said desperately. She looked almost afraid, but of what Satoshi couldn't be sure.

Just then, Krad spoke again, sounding wary. _"Don't listen, Satoshi," _he cautioned.

_"What's with you?"_ Satoshi thought back. _"You're acting bizarre, you know that?"_

_ "You should leave,"_ Krad said with a nervous edge in his voice.

Satoshi ignored him. "Well, if you want me to…" he said to Shuuko hesitantly, still feeling like he was missing something. He reached up to his glasses.

_"Satoshi,"_ Krad warned. _"There is no reason for this. Leave."_

_"You can't tell me what to do."_ Satoshi took hold of the side of his glasses and pulled them off. Then he looked at Shuuko, who was staring at him intently again. She slowly took another step towards him to look closely into his eyes, now only a few inches away. For some reason, Satoshi felt Krad withdrawing quickly, shrinking away from Shuuko like she were a bright light that was blinding him—or like he was afraid of her.

Suddenly, Shuuko gasped and backed quickly away from Satoshi as if she had just spotted a large spider on his face. She kept backing away, farther and farther away from him, stammering in obvious fright. "S-Satoshi, you… Did you know…?"

Satoshi took a step towards her but she recoiled, so he stopped. "What's wrong? What happened? Shuuko? _ Shuuko!"_

But she was beyond him; she wasn't listening. "I… I'm sorry, I… I have to go."

And she ran. She turned away from him and ran as fast as she could around the fountain and down the steps, tripping on one and almost falling down. But she kept going. Satoshi ran to the rail and watched her in bewilderment as she tore down the street, refusing to look back at the boy she had just left in her dust.

Satoshi walked to the fountain and sat down on it, his mind working in either slow motion or overdrive; he couldn't tell. What on earth had happened to that girl? One minute she had been talking to him, and the next she was running away! _What did she see?_ Satoshi wondered, absently folding his glasses in his hands.

_"Did I not warn you?"_ Krad said severely, and Satoshi felt an icy sting in his chest. _"Did I not tell you to leave while you had the chance?"_

_"Shut up!"_ Satoshi snapped. _"I don't know what she saw, but now I know there's something special about her. That's what I came here to find out in the first place."_

Krad actually laughed out loud. _"Satoshi, are you truly that blind? Do you honestly have no idea of what she _must_ have seen?"_

Satoshi blinked, caught off guard. Was he _supposed_ to know? He thought back: the look in Shuuko's eyes when she had backed away from him like that… it was familiar. It was the look she had given Krad as he was about to end her life forever.

_Oh no…_ In his eyes, she had seen _Krad's_ eyes.

* * *

"Mom, _you didn't!"_

"It's best to keep busy, Daisuke," Emiko said rationally to her son. "You wouldn't want to get rusty!"

Daisuke's shoulders slumped as he gaped at his mother. "I don't wanna!" he complained. "Why do we have to steal so much lately, anyway?"

"All these lovely artworks are just _everywhere_, Dai!" said gleefully as she danced around the kitchen. "I just have to have them for our collection!"

_"She's right, Daisuke,"_ Dark snickered. _"I don't get out nearly enough as it is!"_

_"But when do _I_ get a break?"_ Daisuke demanded miserably. _"And tomorrow's a school day! I can't afford to stay up late!"_

Dark just laughed some more. _"Well, if your own mother doesn't mind, then I don't think you should, either."_

Daisuke hardly thought this was a good basis for judgment; his mother was far from normal.

"You're stealing 'Dream of Reality' at eight o'clock, a painting that was donated to the Esviel Museum a week ago," Emiko said, all business now. "So be ready to leave by seven-thirty!"

That had all been several hours ago. Daisuke had decided to use the rest of his Sunday to catch up on homework, since he obviously wouldn't have time to do it later, thanks to his mom. It wasn't his first choice of pastimes, but responsibility dictated that it needed to be done.

But now he was out of time. Between homework, meals, and complaining to his mom in between, he had needed all the spare time he had. Now it was twenty past seven, and he had to get ready if he was going to make it to the museum in time. So, pushing his chair back, he went to his closet and pulled out an outfit for Dark and changed into it.

_"You've gotta lighten up,"_ Dark huffed. _"You're totally ruining the mood, y'know."_

_"I'm sorry!"_ Daisuke said desperately. _"I just feel like I don't have any free time anymore!"_

After a silence, Dark finally spoke. _"Aha, I see what your problem is."_

"Huh?" he said aloud.

_"You're depressed 'cause you haven't been out with Riku in a while, aren't you?"_

The redhead's face turned the same color as his hair. "What–?"

Dark was laughing to himself now. _"It's okay, Daisuke! It happens to everyone sometime!"_

Daisuke just pouted and transformed, leaving Dark to stand in the middle of his tamer's bedroom with a joking smile on his face. "Aww, don't be like that," he teased. "You should ask her out sometime and tell Emiko. You know she supports you and Riku so much that she wouldn't make you steal instead if you gave her a heads up."

_"I guess so."_ Daisuke knew that Dark was right; his mom adored anything in his love life so much that she wouldn't dream of getting in the way if she had notice. The thought of going on a date with Riku made him feel pleasantly warm inside; it really had been a while…

"Well, while you're thinking about that," Dark said loftily, stepping out onto Daisuke's balcony with his familiar on his shoulder, "I've got a painting to steal!"


	8. A Change of Mind

**CHAPTER EIGHT: A Change of Mind**

* * *

Shuuko collapsed into a chair and held her head in her hands, letting her elbows rest on the kitchen table. She knotted her fingers into her own hair, pulling at it until it hurt. Her _head_ hurt; it throbbed in her temples like a bad headache and her vision swam in front of her eyes when she opened them. Everything felt wrong. The very floor under her feet felt tilted. Her body felt heavy and weak while her head felt light and dizzy. Everything felt imbalanced, like Earth itself had been thrown off its axis and she could feel it spinning the wrong way.

_I don't understand,_ she thought for the hundredth time as if thinking it enough would suddenly make everything become clear. _I don't get what's happening to me, to everyone._ She rocked herself back and forth, wishing her head would stop feeling like it was splitting open.

_Why?_ Why was it that every time she went out to have a normal day something bizarre always happened? Just this morning she had gone out for a walk, thinking about her first date—with Phantom Dark of all people—and had run into the last person she'd expected: Satoshi Hiwatari, the aloof and mysterious boy that she never imagined she would ever get a chance to talk to. And on top of that, she had actually had more than one relatively proper conversation with him.

But what had they talked about? Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember anything about what she heard; she only remembered what she _saw_. One minute she had been looking at Satoshi's smooth, reserved face and his dark blue eyes behind his glasses… and the next she had seen the same face but with cold, icy, golden eyes.

She'd only seen them flash for just a split second, but in that moment everything seemed to fall apart. Her heart had forgotten to beat and everything in her mind had gone blank, all except for one thing: _run._ And she had; she'd run all the way back home without stopping and without looking back, but now that she had been here for hours, she hardly felt any better off. She felt confused, lost, and lifeless; loitering around her empty house with nothing to do with herself except let her thoughts haunt her.

What scared her most was that this wasn't a one-time thing—it had happened before. Her mind kicked into overdrive, images flashing by in a blur. First, there had been Dark when she had first met him, standing before her with his hand under her chin, so close she could almost feel his breath on her face. She'd seen—no, _felt_—something from him then; a feeling of extra warmth, almost like a sixth sense that someone was standing behind him that she couldn't see.

Then there had been Daisuke, standing next to her outside their classroom. Something had been wrong there, too. She had felt like something had brushed past her, like maybe Daisuke's arm had accidentally touched her, but when she looked at him he wasn't close enough. It was when she had met his gaze that she saw it: a shadow flitting across his red eyes that made them darken for a split second, but it had been so quick that she had convinced herself that it was her imagination.

But then there was today. She had seen that fleck of gold across Satoshi's eyes not once, not twice, but _three_ times. They couldn't all be the work of the sun's reflection; in fact, she doubted that any of them were. Up until now, she had believed that everything before had been an illusion, a trick of her own mind. But now she knew better, and she was certain she hadn't imagined it at all. They were all very real.

_But what does it mean?_ she thought, tears of fear and frustration stinging her eyes. _Am I just going completely insane or is this all supposed to be telling me something?_

There was only one other thing that she was fairly certain of. _ I _know_ those eyes,_ she thought, pulling on her hair until her forehead hit the table. She knew at least one of them, and those were the ones she had just seen that same day. Only one person she knew had golden eyes, and only that person had ever made her feel so afraid.

_Krad…_ She remembered the night she had first seen him when Dark had yelled out the name as that white-winged man had been about to kill her. She didn't know what other purpose he could have possibly had; Krad himself had basically confirmed it. _"If Dark is too soft to dispose of you,"_ he had sneered, _"then _I_ will."_

Yes, he had definitely had every intention of obliterating her; she wouldn't forget the terrifying look in his eyes anytime soon. _But if that's true,_ she couldn't help thinking, _why did he stop? He had me completely helpless._ She shivered at the memory. _If he hadn't hesitated like that, Dark never would have been able to get to me in time and I'd have been finished._

She suddenly frowned at the tabletop, her face still nested in her hands. The fact that Krad had wanted to get rid of her was obvious, but there was the question of _how._ Of all the things he could have decided to use, he had held up a white feather; how were you supposed to hurt someone with a _feather,_ let alone _kill_ with it? _And it was glowing,_ she remembered. _How did he do that?_

Shuuko lifted her head off the table, combing her hair out of her face with a hand. She knew she was lucky to be alive. _I know I should probably just forget about it now that it's over, but…_ But something held her back, just as something had held _him_ back, and she found that she was very curious to know _why._

She pushed her chair away from the table and pulled herself up. Instinctively, she went to the television in the next room and turned it on, flipping it to the news channel. _If Dark is stealing again tonight,_ she thought determinately, _then the other one—Krad—might be there, too._ As soon as her ears adjusted to the reporter on the screen, she almost dropped the remote.

"…letter from the notorious Phantom Dark, stating that tonight at eight p.m., he will steal the painting 'Dream of Reality' from the Esviel Art Museum. As you can see behind me, the police are already stationed and waiting for the phantom thief's appearance–"

Shuuko just turned the television off again; she had heard everything she needed to know. Glancing at the clock, she saw that she had half an hour to change clothes and get to the museum if she was to be there in time. She dropped the remote back onto the table, dashed up the stairs, and started digging through her closet for something else to wear. Settling on a pair of nice jeans and a blue long-sleeved shirt, she made sure her hair looked reasonable after she had almost pulled some of it out earlier. Then she ran back downstairs to pull on her shoes.

Just as she was about to tie the laces of her other shoe, she stopped herself. _What if I'm being a total idiot right now?_ she made herself think. _Last time I went to the museum a scary blonde angel tried to wipe me out, and yet here I am going right back to the same place. If this isn't stupid, I don't know what is._

Even after this, though, the thought of staying home alone and missing a chance to see Dark was appalling. _And so what if that Krad guy shows up again,_ she thought stubbornly. _If he changed his mind about getting rid of me, then he wouldn't try it again… Would he?_

Her mind made up, she finished tying her shoe and straightened up, snatching her key off the counter. She let herself out of the house, locked the door behind her, and jogged off down the sidewalk, heading straight for the museum that she perhaps should never go back to.

* * *

Seven… Seven-thirty… For once, Satoshi couldn't care less about the ticking clock. Dark was stealing a painting at eight? Big deal. The police could manage without him for one night. He was tired, confused, and worried, but not about Dark or some silly artwork. All he wanted to do was go to sleep, wake up, and have everything laid out in front of him for him to sort out later. What he didn't want to do right now was work.

_"Satoshi,"_ Krad's voice probed at him and Satoshi did his best to ignore it. _"You do realize what time it is, do you not?"_

Satoshi absently brushed a bit of dust off the spine of a book in one of the many bookcases against the wall of his apartment. _"For once in your miserable excuse for a life," _Satoshi retorted bad-temperedly, _"just leave me alone. I don't care about Dark right now, and you're the last person in the world who could change my mind."_

Krad didn't respond right away; Satoshi would like to think it was because he had finally touched a nerve, but he knew better: Krad was probably just thinking about how funny this whole thing was.

_"Perhaps tonight doesn't matter to _you,_ Satoshi, but I'm afraid it matters to _me," Krad said, sounding dangerously amused.

_"Well, I don't care about you, either,"_ Satoshi snapped, turning away from the bookshelves and leaning against the wall, shoving his glasses up his nose a little further. He wasn't used to Krad being awake for so long in one day, and it was making him beyond irritable.

When all Krad did was laugh softly, Satoshi felt an awful, dreadful feeling settling over him. _"I wish you didn't feel that way,"_ he said, sounding apologetic, but Satoshi didn't believe it for a minute. _"If you continue resisting me, it will only prolong your pain."_

Satoshi's eyes widened as he felt the sharp cold stabbing at his heart. "Krad, don't!" he choked out, his knees buckling underneath him as he slid down the wall. "Why do you care, anyway?"

_"I have… curiosities,"_ Krad said vaguely, _"that I wish to satisfy. Is that so wrong?"_

"Depends," Satoshi gasped, starting to shake as the pain began to climb. "Wait a second. This had better not be about Shuuko," he snarled warningly, clutching at his shirt.

_"Perhaps,"_ Krad sneered, _"perhaps not."_

Satoshi collapsed to his hands and knees on the cold floor. _This isn't good,_ he thought desperately, struggling to keep from screaming as he felt Krad's wings pushing, fighting to break out. _If I fall unconscious and Krad gets loose, he could do anything to Shuuko and I won't be able to stop him!_

_"You couldn't stop me even if you were awake,"_ Krad snarled, pushing Satoshi even further towards his limit. _"I don't understand why you insist on suffering even more than necessary when you know you will lose in the end."_

"No… I won't let you–!"

But it was useless; white wings ripped themselves out into the open air and Satoshi collapsed, screaming only for a second before everything began to blacken.

_Shuuko… Be careful…_

* * *

High over the city, Dark swooped towards the arms of light waving in the distance below, marking his destination. He had no doubt in his mind that he'd be successful, again, in stealing what he came here for, but he did hope it would be more of a challenge than he was getting lately. Well, except for Krad, perhaps; he was always happy to do without his opposite.

As he got closer, though, he started to doubt if they'd even get a searchlight over him without him flying right through one on purpose. There were countless officers surrounding the museum, but after a quick look around, he concluded that the officers were just about it.

"They're joking, right?" Dark laughed out loud as he touched down on the museum roof, peering over its edge at the officers below and then looking up at the empty sky above. "They're not even trying! There aren't even any helicopters!"

Laughing some more to himself, he slid down the roof carefully to its edge and pulled out a small grenade from his long coat. He crept along the roof to the rear of the building where the window he wanted to enter through was and cast a quick glance down below. Sure, there were plenty of guards, but they wouldn't be a problem; not after this. Taking careful aim, he lobbed the grenade over the edge of the roof straight down into their midst.

As soon as it hit the ground, sleeping gas spewed from it and surrounded the mob of guards, who immediately started getting drowsy. After almost no time at all, the officers all collapsed in a comical heap, some of them even snoring loudly.

_What a joke!_ Snickering, Dark leapt down and hovered right over them in front of the window. Drawing out a feather with flourish, he unlocked it, pulled it open, and slipped inside without anyone noticing a thing.

* * *

When Shuuko arrived on the scene, it was no different than all the others: police officers were everywhere and so were fan girls. There was a very noisy crowd of young women right at the front of the museum, waiting anxiously for their dream man to make his appearance. _I'll never see anything from here,_ she thought irritably. She hated crowds, anyway; good riddance.

Making her way around the mob as nonchalantly as she could, she came to the other side where there were some trees and bushes around the perimeter of the museum. She stared at them, giving her mind some time to work. _I shouldn't,_ she argued with herself. _Just coming here at all is pushing my luck… but there's no way I can see Dark from here, let alone talk to him… Oh, what the heck._

Without looking back, she carefully slipped into the foliage, got down on her hands and knees, and started crawling along the side of the museum. There were officers stationed all around it every few feet, but they were all looking at the sky, not the roped-off landscaping. Slowly, careful not to tread on anything too noisy, Shuuko made her way towards the rear of the museum where, hopefully, there would be fewer guards and she'd have a better chance of seeing Dark.

After painstakingly sneaking past the guards at the sides, she carefully stood up behind a tree near the back wall. _There are even more guards back here!_ She glared at the group of them, standing stiffly against the wall only a few feet from her. _How am I going to get a chance with Dark at this rate?_

Just then, she heard the crowd erupt in excitement back at the front. She quickly looked up at the sky but, to no surprise, saw nothing. _This is so lame,_ Shuuko thought sourly, turning around and sliding down to crouch at the foot of the tree. _I go against my better judgment and sneak around like a delinquent just to come back here, and I still can't find Dark! I should have just stayed home!_

Then, suddenly, there was a strange _hiss_ sound from behind her. Quickly peering around the tree, Shuuko looked just in time to see something small bounce up off the ground from being dropped from above. The guards, who the thing had almost fallen on, jumped in surprise and started babbling in confusion, eyeballing the little thing and backing away from it. Peering at it a little more closely, she could swear it looked like a small grenade.

_Oh my God, the museum's going to explode!_ Shuuko was just getting ready to run for her life when she saw the guards a little ways away start to collapse. They dropped to the ground one by one, limp as socks, into a pile on the ground, and some of them were… snoring? She stared in astonishment as the whole lot of guards started sleeping.

Then it hit her: sleeping gas! _It must be Dark! _Carefully stepping out from behind her hiding place, she crept forward quietly, peering around for the black-winged thief, but as she got closer, she realized she had acted too soon; the sleeping gas hadn't dispersed yet.

She immediately felt her own eyelids start to droop and her body started going limp. _No! I can't go to sleep here! When the police wake up, they'll find me!_ Desperate, she stumbled back towards the trees and collapsed against one, clutching at its bark, trying to force her eyes open, but it was futile. She slowly slid down the tree trunk and dropped to her knees at its base; she couldn't fight it.

She wobbled and fell sideways onto the grass just as Dark's silhouette flickered over the ground, disappearing again as he slipped inside the museum. Just as the guards were unaware of him, he was completely unaware of the girl on the ground below him in the shadow of the trees.

* * *

"Man, I may get a new hobby after this," Dark scoffed as he watched more officers run right past him as they chased after With. "This is what they call security? This is kid's stuff!"

When the officers were long gone down the hallway, Dark sidestepped into the room that housed what he wanted. Scanning the walls for only a moment, passing over the other random paintings, he spotted it: "Dream of Reality" hung on the far wall in its heavy golden frame, waiting to be stolen. Walking up to it, he saw that it was a beautiful landscape of rolling hills of wildflowers at sunrise; he could see why Emiko might want it.

He grasped the corners of the frame and lifted it off the wall to find that it was _very_ heavy; the frame itself probably accounted for half the artwork's worth. "All right, time to split!" Hoisting the painting up under his arm, he slipped back through the museum the way he had come and stopped in front of the window. "With, let's fly!"

His familiar appeared as his wings at his master's call and Dark leapt out into the night, swerving for the Niwa house. Down on the ground, Detective Saehara had spotted him and was now yelling at his officers for letting him escape, and as Dark passed over him, he gave him a cocky grin.

"Try a little harder next time, 'kay?" he called down, just to make the detective mad. "A monkey could get past your security!"

He flew on, tuning out Saehara's colorful tirade. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it, Daisuke?" he said to his tamer. "No tripped traps and no Krad! How much better for you can it get?"

_"Yeah, sure it was easy,"_ Daisuke replied uncertainly, _"but that doesn't mean I enjoyed it."_

Dark smirked. "Sure you do. Admit it, you like the thrill!"

_"No I don't! It's stressful!"_

"Heh, if you say so." The young thief turned to his own wistful thoughts. The one thing that might have made all that boring work worth it was if Shuuko had been there to talk to, but he hadn't even seen _her_ anywhere. _What a shame,_ he thought, smiling ruefully to himself. _It would've been nice to ask her out again._

* * *

He couldn't believe it: Satoshi had stalled him so much that Dark was already gone! He had gone to all the trouble of taking over Satoshi's body and this is what he was left with. The police had already ushered the crowd of young women away and they were now packing up and starting to drive away, leaving the museum empty and deserted. _ Such a waste,_ Krad thought irritably.

He stepped up to the edge of the roof and swept the grounds with his golden eyes. Yes, Dark had definitely already taken what he wanted and gone; there wasn't a single soul left on the premises, and especially no phantom thieves. He stretched his white wings wide and prepared to fly all the way back to Satoshi's apartment, but his eyes caught sight of something.

There was _one_ person left on the ground, but he couldn't tell who it was. They were lying in the grass at the base of a tree, completely motionless. One thing he did know, though, was that this person was not a police officer, for their attire was all wrong. At first, he didn't think anything of it and made to turn around again, but he stopped. For some reason, he couldn't help but look back over his shoulder at the form down below. Why was he so curious?

Casting aside the possible reasons why, he took flight, but instead of going higher, he swooped down lower until he touched down to the ground near the figure. He paused, considering, and then took a few cautious steps forward. He was now close enough to see it was a girl, lying on her side and apparently asleep, unconscious or—for some unearthly reason—dead. Another second's look told him she was alive, though, for he could see her breathing steadily.

His eyes widening, he took another step towards her and bent down on one knee. He realized it was that girl—Shuuko, as Dark had called her—who he had seen just the other night. He felt an odd mixture of feelings rush through him all at once and he couldn't distinguish them all; he remembered the contempt he had felt as he had first laid eyes on her, thinking of how inconvenient she was. However, he also felt confused all over again at his actions afterward when he had hesitated in the act of doing away with the little nuisance.

He was forced to focus on her again when she stirred; whatever state she had been in before, she was waking up now. His mind froze; leave or stay? _There's no reason to stay,_ he thought to himself, but his legs wouldn't straighten him up. He didn't know what to do or where to go and he felt trapped. Before he had time to make up his mind, Shuuko pushed herself up onto an elbow and opened her eyes.

As soon as her blue eyes met his gold ones, she shrieked. "You!" She pushed herself up and tried to back away along the ground, but the back of her head just knocked against the tree, forcing her to stop and massage her head.

Krad forced himself to straighten up and take a step back, giving her space. "Forgive me for startling you," he said, giving her a slight, almost unnoticeable inclination of his head. "I was not sure whether you were unconscious or asleep."

"T-That hardly m-matters!" Shuuko choked out, scrabbling around to crouch behind the tree instead, as if it offered much protection. "I don't know what you want, but I don't have it! Just stay away from me!"

Krad let his head cock slightly to one side, considering her. "You have nothing I want," he said as coolly as he could. "I simply wondered why you remained here, now that the rest of the crowd has long since dispersed."

Shuuko was just staring at him with an expression of complete loss for words. "Well, it wasn't exactly my fault," she said feebly, trying to disappear into the tree. "And why do you care what I'm doing here? You're probably just here because I'm all alone now and there isn't anyone to see you finish me off–"

She clapped her hands over her mouth in horror, thinking she had just given him bad ideas. Krad only allowed himself a small chuckle as he shook his head.

"I assure you I'm not here to 'finish you off,' " he said smoothly. "I will admit that my past behavior was somewhat hasty."

Shuuko's mouth fell open. "'Hasty'?" she echoed incredulously, shrinking even more. "You almost killed me!"

Krad struggled to keep the smile off his face; she was doing nothing but amusing him. "Yes, I acted much too soon," he elaborated.

Shuuko looked incensed. "So you're apologizing for trying to kill me _then_ instead of _now?"_ she said hysterically, straightening up too quickly, wobbling, and clutching at the tree for support again. "Am I supposed to be _happy_ about that?"

The cold angel just shook his head again, unable to keep from smirking a little. "As I said before," he chortled, "I have no intention of causing you any more harm."

The girl was shaking her head slowly at him now in complete confusion. "Okay, fine," she said shakily. "Let's say for a minute that you really mean all this. What possessed you to want to murder me in the first place?"

Krad considered this, not taking his eyes off her. "You were interfering with my… confrontation," he settled on, "with Dark."

"Tell me if I'm wrong, but it looked like you were trying to kill him," she answered, frowning at him in a mixture of confusion and fear.

"The history between Dark and myself is not something you need to know," Krad said icily.

"I know," Shuuko said, a response Krad had not expected. "I know I'm not supposed to know that, so I won't ask."

Krad raised an eyebrow in interest. "Then we have an understanding," he responded.

Shuuko just bit her lip. "I…" She hesitated, and then broke down. "Oh, just get it over with!" she wailed, leaning back against the tree and hanging her head. "Stop stalling and just get rid of me if that's what you want!"

Krad blinked, a little taken aback by her outburst. Then, without really knowing what he was doing, he reached out to her face, which was hidden in shadow. With a single gloved finger, he lifted her chin for a split second to look at him and then took his hand away. "I will not hurt you," he said slowly for the final time.

And Shuuko didn't argue. She was staring at his face with something that wasn't fear, but Krad wasn't sure _what _it was. All he knew was that it made him extremely uncomfortable. He took a step away from her. "I will not take up any more of your time," he said, turning around.

But she called him back. "Krad, wait!"

He stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of his name. Something in his chest had grown hot for a second, and it alarmed him. "Yes?" he said warily, not turning around.

"I… I just want to ask you," Shuuko said nervously. "What made you change your mind?"

Krad frowned slightly. He wanted a good answer for that question, but what was disturbing was that he didn't have one. Very slowly, he turned around to face her again. She had taken a step away from the tree towards him and she was staring at him, unblinkingly, with that same, strange look he didn't like.

"I cannot answer that question," he said with effort. He spread his wings wider.

"Do you just not want to, or…?" Shuuko hesitated, looking afraid to go on.

He hesitated, too. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he felt like saying them would be admitting a weakness of some kind. After a very long silence, he finally forced himself to speak.

"I cannot answer," he said softly, "because I don't know the reason." He stretched his white wings to their widest. "Until we meet again."

He took flight with a strong beat of his wings, sending a few loose white feathers into the air. As he soared higher, he glanced back down at the ground. The last he saw of Shuuko before she became too small to see was her picking one of his loose feathers up off the ground and looking up to watch him fly away, holding the feather gently in her hand.


	9. Missing Pieces

**CHAPTER NINE: Missing Pieces**

* * *

Riku stopped outside her twin sister's bedroom door. She hadn't heard from Risa for most of the evening; it was starting to get late, and if Risa hoped to have time to take a bath, she'd have to start now.

She lifted her hand and knocked a few times. "Risa, the bathroom's free!" she called. When she got no response, she carefully cracked the door open. "Risa? Are you in here?"

She spotted her twin at once, standing and looking out her glass doors at the night sky. Riku warily stepped inside the room and closed the door behind her. "Hey, Risa?"

Risa turned around. She looked preoccupied, perhaps a little worried, and she was holding something in one of her hands: a black feather.

"Oh, Riku…" Risa trailed off absent-mindedly, glancing back over her shoulder through the glass. "What is it?"

Riku frowned slightly, for she could always tell when something was bothering her sister. "Um, the bath's free," she said uncertainly. Risa merely nodded and said nothing. "Risa, what's wrong?"

"Oh, I don't know," Risa murmured, shaking her head in confusion and brushing a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. "It's just…" She hesitated, looking like she was afraid of what Riku might say. "I haven't seen Dark lately and…" She turned around so Riku could no longer see her face. "I miss him."

Riku fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well, you still see him on the news," she said hopefully. "Nothing's happened to him or anything–"

"It's not the same," Risa interrupted, turning back around. She looked upset. "I haven't seen him at all ever since Daisuke told us they were the same person. It's been months," she added, her voice cracking slightly.

"They're not exactly the same person," Riku couldn't resist correcting her.

"You know what I mean," Risa retorted, looking away. "I want to see him again, but…" Her voice caught, and she had to take a deep breath before she could continue. "But I don't even know if he'd want to see _me."_

"Well, why wouldn't he?" Riku asked, trying to sound more at ease than she felt. "He cares about you, Risa. I'm sure he'd want to–"

But before Riku could finish, Risa swept past her to the bed and sat down on it with her back to her twin. "What makes you so sure?" Risa asked the wall while Riku stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. "What makes you think he'd want to see me again?"

"Risa, don't say that!" Riku said in shock, coming around to the other side of the bed to see her sister's face. "Dark can't just forget about you like that! If you miss him that much, then talk to him about it!"

Risa just gave Riku a blank look and Riku sighed. "I mean talk to _Daisuke_ about it," she rephrased. "Tell him you want to see Dark and you can work it out, okay? You don't have to get all depressed about it."

Risa just shook her head slightly, looking lost. "I don't want to be a bother, Riku," she said reasonably, though her voice quavered. "We've both seen how busy he's been lately and I can't just start following him around everywhere again."

"Well if you won't talk to him, I will!" Riku said with finality, straightening up. "I'll tell Daisuke that Dark needs to stop avoiding you tomorrow at school, okay?"

Risa quickly stood up. "Riku, you don't have to–"

"Yes, I do!" Riku said stubbornly, heading for the door. "You're not sticking up for yourself, Risa, so _someone_ has to!" She pulled the bedroom door open and looked back at her sister. "You should take your bath now."

And before Risa could say anything else, Riku marched determinately through the door and snapped it shut behind her.

* * *

Daisuke was very tired when Dark finally gave him his body back upon returning home. _All these late nights are starting to catch up to me,_ he thought miserably. Not bothering to change out of Dark's outfit just yet, he picked up "Dream of Reality" again, grunting at its heavy frame, and heaved it downstairs.

"Mom?" he called out in the empty house. It was awfully quiet. "Dad? Grandpa? Where are you guys?"

When he didn't get any answer, he set the painting down on the floor and leaned it against the wall so he wouldn't have to lug it around. Then he passed through the empty kitchen, past the living room, and went towards the master bedroom. When there wasn't anyone even in here, he frowned. Where was everybody?

Just then, he heard a door opening back where he had come from, so he went back out into the hall and saw the basement door swinging open to reveal Towa climbing up. "Towa, where is everybody?" he asked the maid.

"Oh, Daisuke, you're back!" she said cheerfully. "They're all in the library. You should probably go there, too," she added, making Daisuke raise an eyebrow. "Mister Kosuke and Miss Emiko are having a little trouble with something."

After thanking Towa for her help, Daisuke hauled "Dream of Reality" to the basement door and down the stone steps, figuring he should save him mom the trouble of moving it later; it would end up down here in her collection, anyway. When he reached the bottom and turned the corner, he didn't see anyone, so he assumed that Towa was probably right. After trudging upstairs again, his arms aching from the weight of the painting, he wound through the house until he reached the library.

When he went inside, sure enough, he saw his mom, dad, and grandfather sitting around a table that was laden with stacks upon stacks of books. His father, Kosuke, had his nose buried in an old-looking book while Emiko tried to read over his shoulder. Daiki sipped loudly at a cup of tea.

"Hey, what's going on in here?" Daisuke asked confusedly, announcing his presence in the doorway.

"Oh, there you are, Dai," Emiko said fretfully, straightening up. "Did you steal the painting all right?"

"Yeah, it's down in the basement," he answered distractedly. "What're you all doing? Isn't it kind of late to be researching, Dad?"

Kosuke looked up and smiled embarrassedly at his son. "It is, but your mother and I are a little concerned with something."

Daisuke took a few steps towards the table. "What's wrong?"

"It's that pretty little statue you stole a few nights ago, 'Yearning Heart,' " Emiko said worriedly. "I didn't want to bother you and Dark with it earlier, but now I don't think I have a choice."

"You see," Kosuke said, carefully closing the book he had been reading, "when your mother first sent out the warning letter to steal 'Yearning Heart,' we weren't sure it contained magical power or not, but we thought it best to steal it as a precaution. Now that we have it," he continued, "we've confirmed that its power seems to already have been awakened by something."

"That's not all," Daiki spoke up after taking another gulp of tea. "Emiko and I have attempted to seal it multiple times, but we cannot seem to stabilize it."

Daisuke was worried now, too. It wasn't often that his mom and grandfather's ceremony didn't work. "So what do we do?" he asked.

Kosuke shook his head. "Right now, there's nothing we _can_ do until we find out more. I've been trying to find information on it for days," he said, half to himself as he frowned at the many stack of books strewn across the table, "but I haven't been able to find anything on it anywhere. It's like it doesn't exist."

Daisuke put his hands on the table to lean over it. "But it's not causing any harm, is it?" He found it hard to believe that such a small, innocent-looking statuette could cause much damage.

"There's no way of knowing," Daiki said sternly. "The fact that its power is active is disturbing enough. Even if it hasn't harmed anyone _yet,_ the sooner we can seal it, the better."

Daisuke nodded mutely, and then stopped. "You know," he said thoughtfully, "something happened the night we stole it."

Everyone around the table stiffened, especially Emiko. "What do you mean, 'something happened'? Why didn't you tell me before?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry, I just forgot!" Daisuke defended himself.

"It's all right, Daisuke," Kosuke said calmly. "Tell us what happened."

"I don't really know how to describe it," he said, frowning in thought. "I think it was something with Dark. I could feel something going on, but I don't think it was me."

He felt Dark sigh inside him. _"Daisuke, you're such a tattle-tale. Now Emiko's gonna freak–"_

"To Dark?" Emiko said hysterically, standing up so fast that her chair fell over backwards. She whirled around to face Daiki. "Dad, what if 'Yearning Heart's' power is affecting Dark?"

_"See?"_ Dark said haughtily.

"Calm down, Emiko," Daiki grumbled. "Have you noticed anything strange, Daisuke?"

Daisuke started to shake his head, but he paused. He wouldn't call Dark's behavior towards Shuuko _strange,_ exactly… just a little weird. "No, I don't think so," he said.

Daiki gave a curt nod as if this settled the matter. "Then there's no need to worry about Dark yet. All we need to focus on is sealing this artwork."

"Don't worry about it," Kosuke assured Daisuke. "We'll figure it out eventually. You should get to bed, it's late," he added, checking his watch. "You have school tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess so." Daisuke said goodnight to his family and left the room, still thinking about the small, charming statue. _I'd hate to think that it could be dangerous,_ he thought to himself. He thought about asking Satoshi, but he certainly couldn't call him at this hour. _If only there was someone who could tell what was going on with it…_

Then it hit him: there _was_ someone who might know, and he was already right in his own house.

_"Daisuke, tell me you're joking,"_ Dark scoffed, reading Daisuke's thoughts with disbelief. _"I do _not_ need that guy's help, okay? He has no business meddling with _my_ problems–"_

Ignoring Dark without a second thought, he tore back to the library and burst in again. "Mom!" he said hurriedly. "Where's Argentine?"

Everyone at the table blinked at him. "In the basement," Emiko said, bewildered. "He's been down there for a few days helping me reorganize. Our collection's gotten so big now–"

"Okay, thanks!" Daisuke cut her off. As he turned right back around hurried to the basement door, he figured that was the reason he hadn't seen the butler around the house lately. Reorganizing the vast collection of artworks might take just as long as all the lifetimes in which Dark had stolen them. He grabbed a flashlight, wrenched the door open, and ran down the steps excitedly. It wasn't often he thought of brilliant ideas, and he felt rather proud of this one.

He rounded the corner at the bottom of the steps and flipped on the flashlight; it was very dark down here under the house. He started winding through the underground tunnels, shifting the flashlight here and there. The tunnels went on for ages, and Argentine could be anywhere in them.

"Argentine?" he called once every few seconds. "Argentine!"

He finally stopped when he heard footsteps. Holding the flashlight a little higher, he saw just the boy he had been looking for rounding the opposite corner. Dressed in the clothes he had been created in, he stopped when the light from Daisuke's flashlight reflected off his light blue eyes.

"You called?" he asked.

"Yes, I was looking for you," Daisuke breathed, relieved to have finally found him; he had been beginning to worry about getting lost down here. "I wanted to ask you about one of the statues down here."

Argentine surveyed Daisuke unblinkingly. "Which artwork?" he asked.

"It's the statuette Dark stole a few nights ago, 'Yearning Heart.' Do you know where it is?"

"Ah yes," he mused, closing his eyes for a moment. "Would you like to see it?"

Daisuke nodded; he might as well. "Uh, yeah, that'd be great."

Argentine nodded and turned. "This way," he said, starting to walk away. Daisuke followed him back the way he had come, not bothering to look at any of the other works of art they passed; he had seen most of them before. After only a short walk, Argentine stopped in a room close to the stairs that led back up into the house.

He pointed to a shelf on the wall. "It is there, beside the locket."

Daisuke stepped up to the shelf and spotted it. Sitting on its little pedestal next to the heavy black locket "Unspoken Lies," the statuette looked the same as ever. "I wanted to ask you about it," Daisuke said, glancing back over his shoulder to where Argentine stood, watching him. "We can't figure out how to seal it and my grandpa says its power is active."

"Yes," Argentine agreed quietly, stepping up to stand beside Daisuke. He carefully reached up and picked up the statue, holding it delicately in his hands and peering at it. "This artwork is very restless."

It took Daisuke a minute to comprehend what Argentine said. "Wait a sec, how can you tell?"

Argentine didn't look up from the artwork as he answered. "When I was rebuilt by my new creator," he said, referring, as Daisuke knew, to Satoshi, "I lost almost all of my abilities. However, I can still read the thoughts of 'things.' "

Daisuke stared. "I didn't know you could do that," he said in stunned surprise.

Argentine did not elaborate further, but lifted the sculpture slightly higher to catch the light of Daisuke's flashlight. "This artwork, 'Yearning Heart', is difficult for me to understand." He frowned slightly as he gazed at it, as if he were trying to listen to a badly-tuned radio that Daisuke couldn't hear. "Its power has been activated, but at the moment, it is dormant."

"'Dormant'?" Daisuke echoed.

"Yes," Argentine nodded. "This artwork is awake, but its abilities are only being used at certain times. It is difficult to understand," he said again, replacing the statuette on its shelf.

"Is it dangerous?" Daisuke asked hesitantly.

Argentine turned to face the redheaded boy. "I don't think it could cause any direct harm," he said simply. When he spoke again, he sounded a little uncertain. "I can't be sure, but I believe this artwork draws power from…" He hesitated, searching for the right words. "I think you would call them 'wants'."

"From wants…" Daisuke muttered thoughtfully to himself. "You mean like wishes?"

After thinking this over, Argentine nodded slowly. "Yes, I think so."

Daisuke took a few long moments to consider this. "So it gains power from wishes," he said slowly, "but what does it _do_ with that energy?" He hesitated, and then said, "Can you tell?"

Argentine glanced back at the statuette and gazed at it with a distant look for a few moments. Then, after what felt like ages to Daisuke, finally spoke. "It seems that in exchange for receiving power, this artwork expends some of that energy to assist the one that gave it that strength." He paused, searching again for the right words. "It… _guides_," he said with uncertain emphasis, "things—events—to increase the likelihood that these 'wishes' are fulfilled."

"Of course!" Daisuke said, slapping his own forehead. "It grants wishes!"

But Argentine was frowning at him as if he didn't like what he was hearing. "I don't think that is all there is," he put in carefully. "This artwork will not aid in the progress of just any wish."

"Oh," Daisuke muttered, his spirits a bit dampened. "It only grants certain kinds?"

But Argentine looked like he couldn't answer. He was staring at "Yearning Heart" with a deeply confused expression. "I cannot explain," he finally said, shaking his head slightly. "The ways of this artwork…" He shook his head more strongly this time. "I cannot understand it."

Daisuke opened his mouth to press him for more information, but he closed it. Argentine seemed truly mystified, and if he couldn't explain anything else, there was nothing he could do about it. "Thanks," he said instead. "That'll help a lot, I think."

Argentine looked up as if coming out of a daze and nodded distractedly. "Shall I leave you now?"

Daisuke shrugged. "Sure, if you want to. I have to get back upstairs, though." He turned and headed back towards the stairs. "Thanks again!" Argentine gave him a small nod again and disappeared back into the dark tunnels.

After climbing more stairs than he could count all evening, Daisuke decided he'd wait until tomorrow to tell his family what he had learned; he was tired enough to sleep on the stone floor. When he finally reached the comfort of his bedroom, he changed into his pajamas and nestled into bed. _If "Yearning Heart" is using its power,_ he thought as With jumped up onto his bed to join him, _then it must be reacting to someone's wishes. I wonder who…?_

His exhaustion taking over, he closed his eyes and finally got some well-earned rest.

* * *

The next morning, Daisuke hardly had time to eat his own breakfast, let alone talk to his family about everything Argentine had told him the night before. After staying up so late, he slept right through his alarm and Towa had to wake him up instead. After choking down a glass of milk and shoving some toast into his mouth, he grabbed his bad and dashed out the door.

His way to school was uneventful, and it gave him some time to catch his breath and slow down. When he finally reached Azumano Middle School, he was pleasantly surprised to see Riku waiting outside for him. "Good morning!" he said cheerfully when he saw her. _She's so cute…_

Riku looked up and spotted him. "Oh, hi Daisuke," she said absent-mindedly. "Listen, can we eat lunch together today? I want to talk to you."

Daisuke blinked; he sensed that by "talk to you," she actually meant "talk to you about something you probably won't like."

"Sure," he said warily, trying not to jump to conclusions. "Um, is something wrong?"

"It's not about me," Riku said, shaking her head. "I'll tell you at lunch."

"Well, okay," he said, shrugging. "We should get to class."

Riku agreed and walked with Daisuke inside, passing some familiar faces on the way through the halls. When they reached the classroom and entered, Daisuke's eye was immediately caught by Shuuko. She was sitting in her desk at the back of the room with a _very_ preoccupied look on her face. _Is it normal for girls to think about dates for this long?_

He was distracted again, though, by Satoshi. For once, he wasn't staring at Daisuke, but was watching Shuuko instead. He was eyeing her out of the corner of his eye and looked deeply troubled by something; this was enough to catch Daisuke's eye, for Satoshi didn't often show what he was feeling about anything.

"Um, Daisuke? What're you staring at?" Riku's voice piped up.

"Oh sorry!" Daisuke shook himself. "I was just looking at Shuuko. She looks like she's _still_ thinking about her date with Dark, even after all this time."

Riku narrowed her eyes. "Speaking of that," she said in a dangerous tone, "you never told me how that went. Did Dark behave himself?" she asked in a lower voice.

Daisuke sighed. "He kissed her," he said flatly, figuring this was all the explanation needed.

"He _what?"_ Riku hissed. "He's probably got Shuuko under some kind of spell now or something! Now she's–!"

"Shh!" Daisuke said urgently, hushing Riku quickly as Takeshi slithered past, eyeing people with the reporter's glint in his eyes. "I don't think he did anything like that to her, Riku," he said reasonably. "I just wish he hadn't done it at all."

"Well, yeah, who wouldn't?" Riku grumbled. "But jeez, he's got some nerve, kissing a girl after barely knowing her for a couple days."

"Um," Daisuke said hesitantly. "He actually waited pretty long by his standards. I was sure he was going to when they first met, but he said he wanted to wait."

Riku didn't say anything; she just turned an angry shade of red, probably remembering how Dark had stolen her first kiss. "Well, whatever," she said dismissively, trying to pretend she wasn't bothered. "He'd just better know what he's getting himself into, is all."

In truth, Daisuke wasn't really sure he did. He and Riku had to break up their conversation when the bell rang, though, and everyone had to sit through class. By the time lunch came around, Daisuke had completely forgotten about the talk he was going to have with Riku.

But she reminded him. "C'mon Daisuke, let's go eat outside."

He remembered and immediately got nervous. "Oh, um, okay," he said. Riku led him outside with the rest of the crowd and the two of them sat on a bench under a tree.

"So," Riku said in a business-like tone, "I wanted to talk to you about Risa."

Daisuke blinked. "About Risa?" he repeated.

Riku nodded curtly. "Well, about Risa and Dark, actually."

_Now_ he was nervous. "O-Okay…"

"Risa's a mess," Riku said bluntly. "She told me last night that she really misses Dark. She hasn't seen him ever since you told us about the two of you months ago and she's really upset."

"I had no idea," Daisuke said honestly. "But what do you want _me_ to do about it?"

Riku frowned at him. "What do you _think?"_ she said in her stubborn, Riku-ish voice that Dark often said was very cute. "You need to tell Dark to stop avoiding her! Risa's so worried about this that she thinks Dark never wants to see her again!"

"I don't think Dark's avoiding her. But I can talk to him if you want," Daisuke added quickly when he saw Riku's glare. "I'll tell him when he wakes up, okay?"

"Okay," Riku huffed. "You don't really think Dark doesn't want to ever see Risa again, do you?" she asked worriedly.

"No way!" Daisuke assured her. "He wouldn't do that, I'm sure of it."

Riku nodded slowly, looking like she felt a little better. "Good. Oh, you want to eat now? I guess that's kind of what lunch is supposed to be for," she said lightly, forcing a small laugh.

Daisuke smiled. "Yeah, I guess so."

The two of them ate in silence, not looking much at each other. They were both worried about Risa, and it slightly ruined the mood. It wasn't long before the bell rang out again and they had to return inside. The rest of class didn't do much good for Daisuke, who was too busy worrying about other things to pay much attention. He was relieved when they were all free to leave.

As he finished packing up his things, he heard someone come up behind him. "We need to talk."

Daisuke looked up to see Satoshi standing there, still looking bothered. "Oh, um, okay…" He always got a little nervous when Satoshi acted like this. "Lead the way, I guess."

Without a word, Satoshi turned and strode out of the classroom, leaving Daisuke to jog after him. He turned a corner and opened the door to an empty classroom, holding it open for him. "After you," he said chillingly. Biting his lip, Daisuke slipped inside and Satoshi followed, closing the door softly behind them.

"So, uh," Daisuke stammered. "What did you want to talk about?"

Satoshi leaned back against the wall next to the door, surveying Daisuke with a calculating look. "We need to talk about Shuuko."

He couldn't help it; his mouth fell open. _Satoshi wants to talk about Shuuko? I didn't think he was interested in her at all._ "Okay…" Daisuke muttered. "What about her?"

"I'm very interested to find out what happened to Krad the night you stole 'Unspoken Lies' to make him hesitate the way he did," he began quietly, "and I thought I'd try to find out more about Shuuko along the way."

"Okay…" Daisuke said again.

"I ran into her at the park yesterday," he said with the air of someone disclosing confidential information. "I tried talking to her to see what I could find out, but she's…" He paused, looking for the right word, "...difficult. I did find out one thing, though, and that is that she's definitely not normal."

"What're you saying?" Daisuke said confusedly. "What do you mean she's not normal?"

"Krad was awake when I talked to her by the fountain," Satoshi explained, "but he wasn't trying to take over. Even so, she said she kept seeing something in my eyes. At first I didn't think anything of it, but she wouldn't let it go."

Daisuke waited. "So…?"

"She finally asked me to take off my glasses," he said, frowning slightly. "I didn't see the harm, so I did, but it was a mistake. As soon as she looked at me closely, she got scared by something and ran off."

"'Ran off'?" Daisuke repeated.

"Yes, she ran away as quickly as she could to get away from me," Satoshi said, staring at Daisuke and waiting for him to react. "I didn't know what could have made her do that until Krad enlightened me. Even though he wasn't trying to take control, she saw his eyes."

Daisuke hardly reacted at all at first. "Huh?" he said dimly.

Satoshi walked straight up to Daisuke until they were only inches apart. "Shuuko saw Krad's eyes," he repeated, staring Daisuke down. "That shouldn't be possible."

_Now_ Daisuke saw the problem. "But how could she?" he said, trying to reason with himself. "If Krad wasn't trying to take over your body, then she couldn't have seen anything, right?"

"That's exactly my point, Daisuke," Satoshi said in a dangerous voice, "but it couldn't have been anything else. I saw the look on her face. She was _terrified,_ the same look she gave Krad the night he tried to kill her."

"This is bad," Daisuke worried, starting to fidget nervously. "What if she makes a connection? It wouldn't be good if she found out–"

"I know, I know," Satoshi said in exasperation, taking a step away from Daisuke and glaring at the wall instead. "What's worse is that Krad took over my body last night, too."

"He did?" Daisuke asked, completely lost. "But Dark and I didn't see him at the museum."

"That's probably because I stalled him," Satoshi said bitterly. "Unfortunately, I lost consciousness and I don't know anything about what happened. I have a hunch that it had something to do with Shuuko," he said, furrowing his brow in frustration, "but I can't be sure. She seems to be acting fine right now, but I just don't know."

Daisuke sat down in an empty desk. "Well, I can't think of any way to find out without a risk of blowing everything. Neither of us can ask, since we're not supposed to know any of this," he thought aloud, staring at the floor. "Maybe Dark could try and find out next time he sees her?"

Satoshi looked unconvinced. "Maybe," he said distractedly, "maybe not. I suppose he would rouse the least amount of suspicion."

"I'll tell him," Daisuke said, wanting to be helpful. "But what else can we do about this? If there's something wrong with Shuuko–"

"I didn't say there was anything _wrong_ with her, Daisuke," Satoshi interrupted. "All I know is that she's not a normal person. Maybe she was born with something. Maybe she's not even human. I don't know what to do with her."

Daisuke figured there was no point in pressuring Satoshi anymore; he looked like he was under a lot of stress already. "Then we'll just play it by ear," Daisuke said, trying to sound reassuring. "We'll figure it out, don't worry."

Satoshi just gave Daisuke a hard look. "You should be careful around her, too," he said firmly. "If she's seen Krad inside me, then it makes sense that she'd be able to see Dark, too. Don't get too close," he said ominously. "She could ruin everything."

With that, Satoshi slid the classroom door open and left him. Daisuke didn't move for a long time; he just sat in the empty chair, thinking about everything he had been told. He didn't like to think Shuuko could be a danger to him. She was so quiet and shy; it was impossible to believe that she was a threat. _Satoshi's jumping to conclusions,_ Daisuke thought, trying to convince himself it was true. _There's no reason to be afraid of her. Maybe she's just as scared as we are. _She_ might not even know what's going on._

Remembering where he was, Daisuke stood up and hurried out of the classroom so he wouldn't get locked in the school when it closed. He headed home slowly, letting his feet do the thinking for him while his mind when other places. His mind felt overloaded, what with everything he had learned about "Yearning Heart," what Riku had told him about Risa, and what Satoshi had told him about Shuuko. _I can't handle all this at once._

When he saw his house up ahead, he let out a heavy sigh before letting himself in. He hoped against hope that he'd get to have a normal evening of dinner and homework for once.


	10. A New Perspective

**CHAPTER TEN: A New Perspective**

* * *

Daisuke felt more relieved than he had in a whole week when he came into the kitchen. His mother didn't mention anything about a warning letter at all, and this made him feel free and unhindered. Now he didn't have to worry about anything except dinner, homework, and sleep. Oh, blissful sleep; it seemed so long ago that he had had a proper night's worth of it.

"Don't forget your homework, "Dai!" Emiko called after Daisuke as he headed upstairs after he finished his dinner.

"Okay!" He finished climbing the stairs and went into his bedroom, rummaging in his schoolbag for his homework sheets and plopping down in his desk chair. He was so relieved to have the evening to himself that for once he was able to get his mind off all his problems and focus on school stuff like a normal person.

With was sound asleep on the sofa and didn't move at all while Daisuke shuffled loudly through his papers and notes, looking things up and writing things down. He managed to keep his mind on track, except perhaps the few moments he got distracted by fleeting thoughts of Riku. He considered asking her out for the weekend, but caught himself and quickly refocused on his work.

As he was finishing up his last few math problems, he felt Dark waking up slowly. "Busy nights getting to you, too?" Daisuke asked him aloud, hoping he wasn't the only one who felt like he was losing sleep.

Dark snorted groggily with the air of someone blowing off a ridiculous accusation. _"Of course not,"_ he scoffed. _"I always sleep this much."_

Daisuke was about to let it go when he remembered his talk with Riku earlier that day. He didn't really want to bring it up, but he had told Riku he would. "So, um, by the way," he began apprehensively, "Riku wanted to talk to me about Risa today at lunch. Well," he hesitated, "about Risa and you, actually."

When Dark didn't respond, Daisuke continued. "She says Risa really misses you," he said concernedly. "She hasn't seen you—in person—for months. She's worried you're avoiding her."

He could tell Dark was thinking, so he didn't pressure him. _"I see,"_ he finally said, sounding guarded. _"I guess it has been a while…"_ He trailed off uncertainly, thinking about it some more.

Dark didn't say anything else, so Daisuke felt it was safe to speak. "So what do you want to do about it?" he asked as gently as he could. "Risa would probably really like to see you sometime soon."

_"I know,"_ the young thief said heavily. _"I guess I should make some time, huh?"_

Daisuke nodded carefully, feeling a little calmer now. "If you want, I can tell her or Riku tomorrow at school when you're going there–"

_"No, don't bother,"_ Dark said suddenly. _"Get in one of my outfits and change into me. I'm going over now."_

Daisuke almost fell out of his chair. "W-What? _Now?_ Why all of a sudden?"

_"I'd just rather go now than later," _Dark said reasonably. _"Now hurry up,"_ he added with a touch of humor,_ "I don't want to mess up the girls' bedtime."_

Daisuke opened his mouth to argue, but stopped himself. Sure, maybe it was bad timing, but he wasn't the priority right now. Risa needed to see Dark, and if this was when Dark would go see her, he shouldn't complain. So instead of objecting, he just stood up and nodded.

"Okay, fine," he relented. He trudged to his closet and rummaged through it until he got to all of Dark's things. He grabbed one of the warmer outfits, comprising of a snug black sleeveless shirt, black pants, and a long black long-sleeved coat. After he wordlessly pulled it on, he closed his reddish eyes and gave up control to his other half.

Deep violet eyes opened and Dark ran a hand absently through his hair. He didn't want to admit it, but he was slightly nervous. It really had been a while, and if Risa really thought he was avoiding her, anything could happen. Would she still be just as happy to see him as she had always been? Would she still be upset and start crying, or worse, would she be angry?

_"I don't think she'd get mad,"_ Daisuke's voice sounded from his mind. _"She'll be happy to see you after so long."_

Dark coughed awkwardly. _"I know that,"_ Dark retorted firmly, trying to sound more confident than he felt. Striding past the sofa, he gave With a rather hard poke. "Wake up," he ordered his familiar. "We're going out for a bit."

With's ears perked up and he stretched, getting obediently to his feet. After letting out a perky "Kyuu!" he vanished and reappeared as Dark's wings.

Dark pulled the string by the entrance out to the balcony and ducked outside into the brisk night air. He could see the Harada's large house in the distance to the right and he couldn't keep a small frown from his face. _Let's get this over with._ His mind made up, he spread his wings and took off.

The flight didn't take long enough; before he knew it, Dark could clearly see the light from Risa's bedroom shining through her glass balcony doors. He'd seen it so many times before as he passed by on his way home from a long night of stealing. So many times had he heard Risa calling up to him as he flew over her, pleading him to come down and see her.

But that was the past. For months now, he hadn't heard her voice call him; he hadn't even seen her looking out over the rail of her balcony, watching the skies for black wings. He couldn't help feeling now like he had lost something—like he had lost her.

_"What are you waiting for, Dark?"_ Daisuke asked confusedly. He'd come all this way just to stop now? _"Aren't you going to talk to her?"_

"Yeah, yeah…" Dark shook himself and began his descent, touching down quietly on her large porch. Slowly, perhaps nervously, he approached the double glass doors and peered through them at the bedroom within.

Risa was lying on her back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling with a blank, unseeing expression. She had long since changed out of her school uniform but had not yet changed into nightclothes. She was wearing a light blue denim skirt and an orange off-the-shoulder top, one of her favorite outfits. She seemed to be completely oblivious to the phantom thief outside.

Dark could easily let himself in with no trouble, but he figured it was more polite to knock first. His wings dissolved and, trying to ignore the sense of foreboding hanging over him, he tapped three times on the glass.

Risa sat up so suddenly that you might believe she'd heard a gunshot. She swiveled on her bed to stare in Dark's direction, and as soon as her eyes fell upon him, she froze. For a split second, neither of them moved. Then Risa mouthed "Dark," scrambled off her bed, and ran for the balcony. She fumbled with the handle for a few seconds because she wouldn't take her eyes off Dark to watch what she was doing. When her fingers finally found it, she turned it and pulled the doors open.

"Dark!" Without warning, Risa flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down into a tight embrace. "Oh Dark, I've missed you so much!"

Temporarily stunned, Dark finally put his arms gently around her. "So I heard," he said, smiling slightly down at her. "Sorry I waited so long."

Risa sniffed and only squeezed him tighter. "I-It's okay," she said shakily, shaking her head against his chest. "I'm just glad you're here again."

Dark rubbed a hand up and down her back, soothing her carefully. "Hey, you shouldn't be out here in the cold dressed like that," he scolded good-humoredly. "Let's get you back inside." He half lead her, half carried her back into her room and closed the door behind them, sealing off the chilly air and leaving them in her warm bedroom.

Risa finally unburied her head and looked up at him, smiling through her happy tears. "I was starting to wonder if I'd ever see you again," she confessed, looking slightly guilty.

Dark sighed lightly and shook his head at her. "Now, you know better than that," he said softly. "I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to, Risa." The last part he admitted with some regret seeping into his voice.

Another tear fell from Risa's eyes, but she quickly brushed it away. "I'm sorry," she whispered, looking down at her feet. "I don't mean to make you feel bad, I just–"

"Don't say that," Dark said quietly but firmly. He hesitated, and then gently kissed the top of her head. "It's okay if you're upset. I deserve it."

Risa looked up at him again with a look of shock. "What do you mean, you deserve it?" she asked in confusion. "You haven't done anything wrong!"

"I'm not so sure," the young thief said ruefully. "I haven't been trying to avoid you, but I _have_ been trying not to see you _too_ often."

Risa continued to watch him in bewilderment. "What're you talking about?"

"I want you to be able to have a normal life, Risa," Dark said grimly. "I want you to have a chance with someone you can spend your life with without me getting in the way."

"You don't get in the way!" Risa said indignantly, taking her arms off him and staring up at him incredulously. Then she added, almost pleading, "I want you around, Dark."

Dark gave the girl in front of him a long look. "I know you do," he said honestly, "and I'm not saying I'm trying to completely disappear. I just don't want to hold you back."

"You're not," Risa said stubbornly. "Don't say that."

Dark merely shrugged. "If you say so."

A long silence ensued in which the two of them didn't look at each other and just stayed in a loose hug. Then, finally, Risa spoke. "Did you come because you wanted to, or…" she hesitated, looking nervous and a little ashamed, "or did you only come because Riku talked to Daisuke?"

Dark opened his mouth but no sound came out. _Okay, maybe she _is_ mad after all…_ "Oh Risa," he whispered, unable to keep from pulling her more tightly against him. "A lot's been happening, and…" He paused, unsure how to continue. "I've wanted to see you for a long time, Risa, but I've been holding myself back to give you your space. When Daisuke told me what Riku said about you being upset, I figured I wasn't doing you much good by staying away after all, so I came to see you."

Risa sniffled and started shaking her head again. "I'm so _sorry!"_ she practically wailed, clinging to Dark like a life preserver. "I just keep making you feel bad! I shouldn't be saying all this, I–"

Dark shushed her and shook his head. "Stop beating yourself up, it's not helping anybody." He let out a small sigh, relaxing himself. "There's nothing wrong with just saying what's on your mind."

"But you've been through enough," Risa whimpered. "You don't need my problems on top of yours."

Before she could keep blubbering, Dark steered her over to her bed and made her sit down on it, and because she wouldn't let go of him, he sat down next to her. "Risa," he said reasonably, leaning forward so he could see her face, "Some guy's gonna fall head over heels for you, and I don't want to be what keeps you apart. I just want you to be _happy."_

"Of course you do," Risa said, getting a hold of herself. "You're a good person, Dark."

Dark let out another sigh and took to staring out through the glass at the other end of the room. There was another long silence, the two of them seated next to each other, neither of them saying a word. Just as Dark was thinking about saying something else, there was a knock on Risa's bedroom door and they heard it open.

He stood up quickly, ready to hide if it was the Harada's butler, but he instead saw Riku's head poke through the crack. "Risa, everything okay in here? I heard voices–" She broke off when she saw Dark and nearly screamed. "D-Dark! What're you doing here?" she demanded, stepping into the room and trying to look intimidating.

The young thief chuckled in a mixture of relief and amusement and sat right back down on the bed just to make Riku madder. "Aww, don't be like that, Riku," he teased, flashing a confident grin. "I thought you'd be _happy_ to see me here. It _was_ your idea, after all."

Riku's face flushed a dark, angry shade of red. "I—well—," she stammered, inflating like an angry cat, "that's not the point! You didn't tell me you were coming!"

"Could I possibly," Dark smirked, standing up very slowly and walking towards Riku, "be hearing _jealousy?_ Did you _maybe _want some time with me, too?"

"Get away, creep!" Riku barked, backing up against the wall. "I am _not_ jealous! You just caught me by surprise, that's all!"

"Heh, sure," Dark snickered. Risa had started giggling and he was pleased to have cheered her up. "_I_ know better, though," he added, winking.

Riku bristled. "No way!" she spluttered. "You do not! You don't know what you're talking about!"

But Dark just laughed out loud and sat back down on the bed, leaving Riku to fume. "Whatever!" Riku erupted, crossing her arms across her chest. "Risa, do you feel better now? Can Dark can go?"

Risa glared at her twin. "Riku, that's awfully rude! If you don't want to see him, then go away, but _I_ want him to stay!"

Glaring back, Riku looked like she was fighting an internal battle. Before she could say anything, though, Dark stood up again.

"Riku's right, actually," Dark said in a resigned voice. "It's late. You should be in bed."

Riku was looking at Dark with a look of deepest surprise. Risa was looking at him with sadness. "Oh, don't!" Risa said quickly, taking a gentle hold of his wrist to coax him back down. "You don't have to leave just because Riku's being ungrateful."

"What! Who's ungrateful?" Riku snapped.

Dark took Risa's hand in his other one and gently removed it from his wrist. "I don't want to keep you up late, Risa, and Daisuke needs his sleep, too. You both have school tomorrow, don't you?"

_"Yeah, remember me?"_ Daisuke murmured.

Risa looked a little upset again, but she knew he was right. "I guess so," she said softly. "But when will I see you again?"

Dark's mouth set into a firm line. He had been hoping she wouldn't ask that question. "I... I don't know," he said honestly. He reached out to her face, but his hand faltered. He finally settled it on the top of her head. "But you _will_ see me again, Risa. I promise."

He turned away from both girls and headed for the balcony as quickly as he could without running. He opened the doors so the light wind came into the room, blowing his hair and coat back. He opened his mouth to call With, but Riku called him back.

"Dark, I–"

Dark slowly turned around, keeping a hand on one of the doors, and faced Riku with turmoil in his eyes. "Hmm?" he said, trying to sound loads more cheerful than he felt.

Riku had gotten closer while his back was turned and she was now standing by the bed, looking frustrated with herself. "You… You just better know what you're doing. I don't know a whole lot about magic or all this art you steal, but if anything happens to Daisuke…" She let it hang, unsure what she wanted to say.

"You'll have my head for it," Dark finished for her. "I won't let anything happen. Count on it."

He couldn't stay any longer. With a last look at Risa, he turned away to face the night. His black wings sprouted once again and he stepped outside, closing the doors behind him. Then, without a sound, he took off and flew out of sight.

* * *

_The sky was dark; it was nighttime, yet it was strangely warm out. Shuuko could feel cool wind, mixed with sea spray and the smell of salt, against her face. The ocean—she could see it now, down below her in the distance. The misty air pulled the arms of the windmills behind her around in their circles. Her hands felt cool grass beneath her and she knotted her fingers into it. She knew where she was now._

_Something large and soft draped around her shoulders and pulled her gently against something, and she looked up. Phantom Dark's perfect face smiled down at her as he held her close with one of his great black wings, shielding her from the chilling wind._

_"Everything's fine," he said softly. He pulled her even closer until her head rested on his chest, directly over his heart. "Close your eyes. I'm here now."_

_And she did, but not because she was afraid. No; she had never felt so calm before. The strong, steady beating of his heart under her cheek soothed her into a daze. He was so warm and strong, the way he held her to him. This was where she felt safe, and nothing could hurt her as long as Dark was with her. She felt herself falling asleep._

_Was she asleep? She could still feel things, and the air around her was getting colder. Where were Dark's wings? She could no longer feel them wrapped protectively around her to block out the chill. She could still hear a heart beating, but perhaps it was only her own. She felt it pounding against the inside of her chest, hurting her. Was it too dark to see or where her eyes just closed?_

_She opened her eyes but shielded them with her hand. There was a very bright light shining on her, like a spotlight on a stage. Slowly letting her eyes adjust, she took her hand away and pushed herself up onto her knees. She didn't know where she was anymore… Was she in a room? Everything was still inky black except where she had been lying, which seemed to be bathed in moonlight. The grass was gone. The ocean was gone. The windmills were gone. _Dark_ was gone._

_She didn't see anyone else there, but she _felt_ someone there. She looked to her left and saw a shadow of something, looming just out of reach of the light. Then as she watched, the figure stepped forward into view. White wings folded against his back, a strange cross blowing out behind him in a wind she couldn't feel, and long hair falling in front of his face, Krad stared down at her with an unreadable expression in his golden eyes._

_Shuuko tried to get up, but she couldn't; her legs felt weak and wobbly, and they wouldn't support her weight. She opened her mouth to speak—not to shout at him to leave, but to simply ask him why he was there—but no sound would come out. She had lost her voice._

_Then Krad spoke, still staring at her unblinkingly. "Forgive me for startling you," he said to her, never breaking eye contact._

_She tried to tell him she wasn't startled, that she wasn't afraid, but again, she couldn't speak. She didn't want him to think she was scared of him, because she wasn't at all. But she couldn't, so she was forced to just stare back at him._

_But before Krad spoke anymore, she felt someone else nearby. She turned her head to her right and saw Dark stepping into the light on the other side of her, looking critical. "That guy there tried to kill you," he said harshly, not taking his violet eyes from Shuuko's. "He's my enemy and I hate the guy."_

_Before Shuuko could even try to say something to him, Krad spoke from her other side. "The history between Dark and myself is not something you need to know," he said smoothly, still staring down at her kneeling on the ground, "but I will not hurt you."_

_"He tried to kill you," Dark said again, making Shuuko look back at him. "You shouldn't be worried about him."_

_"You interfered with my confrontation with Dark," Krad countered, grabbing Shuuko's attention again. "Yes, my actions were rather hasty. Forgive me–"_

_"Shuuko," Dark interrupted, stealing her gaze from Krad again. "He's my enemy. He's _your_ enemy. You should hate him."_

Stop,_ Shuuko thought, wishing she could say it aloud. _Stop fighting.

_"He tried to kill you just to tick me off," Dark snarled._

_"You have nothing I want," Krad insisted. "I will not hurt you."_

But why?_ Shuuko wanted to ask. _Why did you change your mind?

_"I cannot answer that question," Krad said, seeming to have heard her thoughts, "because I don't know the reason."_

_"Why would you be worried about my enemy?" Dark demanded. "He tried to kill you. He tried to kill _me."

_She started panicking. _Why won't they stop?_ she thought fearfully. _I can't speak! I don't understand any of this!

_"I cannot answer that question," Krad said cautiously._

_Dark started talking at almost the same time. "You should hate him!"_

_Their voices started mingling together in senseless noise, making her ears buzz. Both winged beings spoke over each other, demanding her attention, trying to out-argue the other._

_"I will _not_ hurt you."_

_"Shuuko, he's my _enemy_."_

"STOP IT!" Shuuko screamed and sat bolt upright, gasping for air. Both Dark and Krad were gone and she found herself staring at her blank bedroom wall. Her sheets were twisted and knotted around her legs, tying her up from her thrashing so she could barely move them. She shivered, misted with icy sweat that dampened her hair and made her sheets feel heavy and limp. Her eyes stung like she had been crying, but she couldn't tell if it was tears on her cheeks or more sweat.

She started kicking and shoving at her sheets, working them off her legs so she could swing them over the side of the bed and sit comfortably. When she freed herself, she buried her face in her hands and tried to catch her breath, willing her heart to slow down. She looked at the clock on her bedside table and saw that it was four in the morning. Not really having the emotional strength to care, she just moaned and slumped back onto her bed, wishing sleep would come back.

But it didn't; her mind was whirling too much to allow her to relax. Though she didn't really want to, she thought back to the dream. Most of the words Dark and Krad had said were things she'd already heard from them before. _Dark's never told me to hate Krad,_ she thought, running her fingers through her tangled hair, _but maybe I _shouldn't _forgive him. I never actually gave Krad my forgiveness for what he did, but in my mind I sort of have._

She rolled onto her side and hugged her pillow, feeling a wave of confusion threaten to engulf her mind again. _The fact that he at least sort of apologized for trying to murder me is definitely not something that happens every day, but _he's_ not exactly normal, either. I don't even know _what_ he is,_ she thought suddenly, realizing that this was somewhat true for both him and Dark alike. _It's physically impossible for a human to fly with wings, so how is it possible? I don't know what you'd call them, but they're not just human._

_So then who knows,_ Shuuko thought reasonably, trying to stay as open minded as possible. _Maybe he just thinks in different ways than I or most other people do. I bet he sees things from a completely different perspective than I do. After all, I'm just human, and he's… not._

This whole new way of thinking engulfed Shuuko like a tidal wave. Everything she had thought of, every judgment she had made, and every prejudice she had denied having disappeared. She finally realized that she knew nothing, absolutely nothing about Dark and especially not about Krad. She suddenly felt alert and full of energy; it was exhilarating, thinking about all the things she didn't know that she would love to figure out. And yet, at the same time, everything seemed to suddenly make sense. The mere fact that she didn't know the first thing about Krad explained why she had been afraid of him even after she'd had a full conversation with him and not gotten hurt at all.

Now she was done with fear. She wasn't going to be afraid of him anymore. Now she was curious about him, maybe even obsessed with him. She wanted to figure him out; she wanted to _get_ him, to understand him. How did he see the world and what was in it? What was his logic behind the way he thought of things? So many questions piled up in her mind that she felt lightheaded.

But she would not overstep herself. She knew better than to poke and pry in Dark and Krad's deepest secrets. No; Krad himself had basically told her that their relationship was none of her business, and she knew that. She _respected_ that. What she wanted was to know them as people, as characters: their opinions, their ethics, and their personalities; that was as far as she dared to go. Besides, she had told both of them that she knew not to invade their secrets, for she knew they both had to have many. _No humanlike being with wings is going to be an open book._

She wasn't worried about Dark; he seemed interested in her enough for both of them. She had a feeling that she'd get to know him over time whether she thought she was worth him or not. It was Krad that would be difficult. The only places she had ever seen him was at the museums when Dark went to steal something, so those times would be her only chances to see him. _I guess I won't be breaking my new schedule anytime soon._

It was after she had relaxed a bit that she remembered what time it was. If she stayed up at this unearthly hour, she wouldn't get anything done in school later. So once she smoothed out her sheets a little more, she snuggled back under the covers. Before she tried to fall asleep, however, she remembered the last thing Krad had said to her. _"Until we meet again."_

_Does that mean he expected to see me again?_ she thought, making her even more mystified and curious than before. _Could he maybe even _want_ to see me again? _With that thought, she closed her eyes and tried to relax. _If he wants to talk to me, too,_ she wondered, _maybe I won't have to look for him that hard after all._

* * *

**As you may have noticed, this chapter isn't quite as long as they usually are, but don't worry: the next chapter will be on its way, and things are going to start getting complicated!  
**

**Also, thanks to all of my wonderful readers! Your reviews have been a joy to read and respond to! It never ceases to put a smile on my face when I see another person is enjoying reading this fanfiction as much as I enjoy writing it. Thank you, all of you, and I will continue writing my best so as not to disappoint you!  
**


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